We're In This Together Now
by onelildustbunni
Summary: Hope is not impressed with the conduct of two individuals and decides to teach them a painful lesson about respect. Involving a certain telekinetic...girl...and a certain...boy with claws? Huh? Yeah, that's right. It happened. POWER SWITCH. AU of mainstream universe; Hellion and X-23 at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning (WatXM).
1. Chapter 1

**TITLE: **We're in This Together Now**  
>STARRING:<strong>Hellion and X-23**  
>UNIVERSE:<strong>AU/WatXM**  
>RATING:<strong>M**  
>SUMMARY:<strong> Hope is not impressed with the conduct of two individuals and decides to teach them a painful lesson about respect. Involving a certain telekinetic...girl...and a certain...boy with claws? Huh? Yeah, you read that right. It happened. Read on, and let the lol's flow. Hellion and X-23.  
><strong>DISCLAIMER:<strong>Song is titled after the NiN song.

**A/N: **Let me explain the setting a bit. It's WatXM...but a little different. Laura is my AU version (developed in the Helix series)...basically X-23 with sass slapped on, and a slightly tweaked history to be explained via story. A few academy X characters will be in this story that are cannon-wise no longer mutants, and a few of Cyclops's kids have chosen the Wolverine school option instead, because I was like "are you STUPID?". Oh also, it will become obvious that a few comic arcs didn't occur here. Alright, that'll do 'er. Enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>-1-<strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>7:00 AM<br>Laura and Nori's room**_

_BRRRRIIINNNGGGG!  
><em>

This is how it all starts, although Laura doesn't know it at this point. She reaches out for her alarm clock and slaps the table, her eyes scrunched closed. Then, because she gets frustrated at not finding it immediately...

_**SNIKT!**_

__She sits straight up and examines the remnants of her small alarm clock, impaled on her claws. The sound of faint ticking dying down fills her ears. "Fuck," she murmurs.

"Another one?" comes a girl's voice from across the room, sounding vaguely amused. Nori, her short blue hair sticking up at all angles. She looks tired-there are bags under her almond-shaped eyes, from being up all night cramming for an exam.

Laura knows exactly the feeling. Who was Notker the Stammerer? What is the mass of a neutron? Where should X be if Sue wants to spend as little time walking in the desert as possible? The answer to all of these questions-in her eyes-is _I don't give a shit. I've got bigger problems.  
><em>  
>Unfortunately, Logan does. And he's pretty much her meal ticket here.<p>

"Grr." She throws off her covers and heads for the bathroom with a displeased look. This is the fourth alarm clock this week, and her morning habit is becoming quite expensive. She turns on the lights and glances at herself in the mirror, then goes about her business preparing for a morning of classes.

**...**

_**12:00 PM  
>Cafeteria<strong>_

"Oh my _god,_" Laura says in a voice full of alarm, as she's just looked up at the clock and noticed the time. She's sitting at a picnic-style table, with an assortment of other teens. Nori is sitting on one side, and on her other is a girl with extremely long brown hair, and smooth, tanned skin: Sofia. She frowns. "Is something wrong?" she asks.

"Yeah," Laura says, her nose wrinkled. "I closed my eyes and-like-six centuries passed. I've got about ten minutes to get to self defense, or Logan will make me scrub the floors with my toothbrush again."

"_Urrr!_" Nori says, twisting her face in disgust. "Are you _serious?_"

Laura grins. "Little does he know it wasn't _my _toothbrush...it was his."

"Hah!" The blue-haired girl grins.

"Laura," her other neighbor says sternly, but she looks amused.

"What? Like I would go through all that effort if I wasn't getting any satisfaction out of it." The dark-haired girl wrinkles her nose. "It was a _bitch._ I never realized how big a square foot was until that little sojourn to hell."

"Speaking of hell...did you hear about Colossus' sister?" the rock-golem sitting across from them rumbles. "She rules some hell-place called _Limbo."_

"That sounds terrifying, Santo," Sofia says.

"Tell me about it," his neighbor says, a serious-looking boy with dark skin and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. David. "It's full of demons."

"We should totally go and kick their asses," Santo comments.

"Absolutely not." David pauses. "Even the X-men can't handle Limbo."

"We're _better_ than the X-men!" the rock-boy protests. He looks across the table. "X, you up for some demon-slaying?"

"When am I _not_ up for kicking ass?" Laura counters. Suddenly her eyes get a faraway look, and she turns her head. "Speaking of..."

Sofia follows her look. "Oh _no._" Her eyes widen and her lips draw into a line.

A boy is approaching the table, with a familiar leer that suggests he is about to start some sort of trouble for all involved, and more than probably harass Sofia in the process. Julian.

She glances at her friend, remembering a conversation they'd had a few nights ago, in which the other girl had told her just how much these incidents could bother her. He's gotten so much nastier over the past few years.

"Stay here...I've got it," Laura reassures her friend as she climbs off of the bench, one hand clenched into a fist. The boy stops in his tracks as she approaches him.

"Kinney," he says, his eyes narrowing in appraisal-or dislike. He has dark hair, and a face that seems to have a permanent, built-in sneer. By his sides hang a pair of shiny, metallic hands, connecting to the rest of his body by what seems to be green mist.

"I've been thinking," Laura says loudly, not acknowledging his greeting. "We've made it pretty obvious that you're not welcome at this table. If not by our comments, then by the fact that I usually throw food and cutlery whenever I see you coming."

"And?" Julian prompts.

"Well, since you just ignore the reaction like it didn't even happen, I figure you've got to have a pretty serious mental deficiency." Laura pauses. "I bet your IQ is, like, ten."

"How ironic-the brainless clone trying to insinuate that _I'm_ messed up." He raises his eyebrows. "Get out of my way before I catch the weird."

"No." Laura glares at him. "I'm not letting you bother my friends anymore. I've seen _enough._"

"Right." He makes to shove past her, and she shoves him backward, catching him by surprise. Julian bumps into an unoccupied table, making the empty dishes and used cutlery on it rattle slightly.

"You want to go, clone?" he snaps, recovering his footing.

_**VRRRRMMMM!**_

A few dishes rise into the air around him, in a small field of green light.

"Please-do not fight!" Sofia says, now beside Laura. "This is ridiculous. Julian-what did you want to say to me?"

He looks at the other girl, and his angry expression softens slightly. "Just hello."

"Oh," Sofia says. "Laura-please-I will handle this."

Laura pauses. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Her friend smiles, but it's a strained smile.

The dark-haired girl shrugs. "Hey, it's your world-I just live in it." And turns toward the door, remembering her class. That's when it hits her.

_**VRRRRMMMM!**_

_**SPLAT!**_

A shockwave of mashed potatoes has been spread all over her back and hair. Making a high-pitched growling noise, she redirects herself and lunges like a wild mountain lion hunting down a rabbit. Julian impacts with the picnic table and slams backward onto its surface, with her straddling his chest, one hand twisted into the collar of his shirt, the other curled into a fist.

_**SNIKT!**_

"AHHHH!"

__he shouts, his face paling by several shades, his eyes widening beyond their usual somewhat narrowed shape as they focus on the points of the claws a couple fractions of an inch away from their surface.

"You want to _go, _fucktard?" Laura demands, through gritted teeth. "Let's _go, _then. Your brains, all over this table. Just _**TRY**_ me."

_**"LAURA!" **_Sofia is shouting, in a state of panic. "Stop this _now!_"

Julian stares at the claw tips, and swallows quite audibly.

"Maybe I _should _just put an end to you, you worthless little shit," Laura whispers. "Nobody needs a pain in their ass like _you_ around. We've already got enough enemies. You're the rotten apple in the barrel."

_**"LAURA!" **_

"Do something!"

"I'm afraid to touch her! Her claws are out!"

Julian raises his eyes to hers, and surprisingly she sees the fear she's seen in so many other eyes is accompanied by a look of challenge. "Try that and I'll blast you right through the fucking roof," he murmurs, his lip curling.

She pauses, half-tempted to _do _so. She's curious to see if he'll make good on his threat.

And then-in this moment of hesitation-she is sent plowing through several tables and the cafeteria window, by a big jet of wind. She scrambles to her knees and coughs up dirt, having landed in a flower bed. Sofia runs to the open window, and stares out. "Oh my goodness-are you okay? I did not mean-"

"Fine," Laura says. "Let's get out of here before the heads arrive."

**...**

_**2:00  
>Outside classroom 300<strong>_

Laura exits her English class, talking with a short girl with dark skin and a pleasant smile-Idie. They are discussing the next tutoring session, since Logan has assigned his pseudo-daughter to do various acts of kindness around the school.

Suddenly, she stops dead, having caught a scent she doesn't like.

Julian is standing in the hallway outside her class. "Well, well, Kinney. No little friends to protect you now." His eyes narrow. "I'm going to _pulverize_ you."

"Yeah, right." Laura meets his glare with one of her own. "Seriously? I had you in checkmate."

"One thought and I could have choked you with your own _intestines_," he hisses.

Idie watches their interaction with interest.

"One thought and I could have plucked out your _eyeballs_," Laura counters. "Good luck thinking past that, dumbass."

"You didn't have the guts." He smirks at her. "You're a coward."

"No, I simply didn't find the thought of your innards plastered all over my clothing that appealing." Laura returns the leer. "Trust me...I know other ways to kill a person. None of which require me touching you...or even being nearby."

"Right." Julian shakes a metal finger in the air. "I'm warning you. I won't back down, next time. You try to get in my face-I won't hesitate to kill you. Like you said-we don't need rotten apples in the barrel around here...we've got enough trouble as is."

Laura responds by focusing on his metal finger.

His face grows red. "Fuck _you!" _he snaps.

She pauses, then grins. "Not in this lifetime, virgin. You wouldn't have the...touch."

Julian responds by slamming her into the wall with his hands, shouting something about how he's going to rearrange her features. Idie jumps a few feet back, her eyes widening-and about three minutes later, as blows are being traded back and forth with increasing violence, a redheaded girl pushes through the gathering crowd in the hallway, her expression very cross.

"What the hell is going on here?" she demands.

The combatants pause. They are on the floor, Julian having gained the upper hand in the situation. His metal fist is in midair, and he has Laura by the hair. There is blood dripping from both of their noses, and tear trails on his face, from when she had kicked him in a very delicate area.

"What the hell does it look like?" Julian snarls.

"It looks like you guys are _fighting._" The red-headed girl glares at him. "We're X-men. We don't fight _each other-_we've got enough-"

"Enemies already, yeah we know the drill." Laura pushes him off and sits up, with a cool look at the girl. "Except that this isn't the X-men, Hope. This isn't Utopia, remember?"

"That doesn't _matter!_" Hope folds her arms. "You two are despicable. I can't understand how you can hurt each other like this, over..." she pauses, and raises her eyebrows. "You make me sick."

"No, what makes me sick is that so many people _died_ over you!" Julian retorts, getting to his feet. He holds out his hands in front of her. "What do you say to this, huh? You never even fucking apologized to anyone for the losses you caused!"

"I-it's not _my _fault!" Hope says, her eyes flashing. "I didn't personally cause any of this mess. I was born into it. Don't try to talk about matters you have no clue in."

"No clue, really?" Laura is on her feet now as well. "I fought a war for you. I held your hand when you were four years old and you were scared about the 'big bad man' that was after you...and would do _anything_to get you..or don't you remember?"

Julian glances at her, raising his eyebrows. She's never talked about her time with X-force before.

Hope's face turns red. "No, I don't remember that. You're lying!"

"Whatever other shitty qualities the clone may have, she doesn't lie," he says, surprising even himself with his ferocity. "So we even have an eye-witness here to attest to the fact that _you_ brought all of this bad karma on us. If anything, we should-"

He doesn't get the finish the sentence, because now Hope is really, really pissed. The air around her smokes slightly, and her face is flushed. And her eyes are white.

_**"SHUT UP!" **_she roars. There is a bright flash-like that of a camera-and then her eyes clear. "I've heard _enough! _Just learn to have some _respect _for each other, my god."

Hope's words are met with a confused silence from the pair. She turns on her heel and stomps away, the crowd parting ways before her, and Idie hurrying to follow in a sort of trotting gait.

"What was _that?_" Julian asks, his voice much quieter.

"Hell if I know," Laura replies. She frowns, reaches up, and rubs her temple. "Oh, _man. _I've got a killer headache all of a sudden."

He looks over her and raises his eyebrows. "Don't care."

Suddenly, there is a loud clatter, and Julian looks down, alarmed. Both of his metal hands are now lying on the floor, utterly useless. His eyes widen in horror. "What the _fuck?_" he gasps, then reaches out at the ground with the stump of his arm, obviously trying to pick them up-and failing. He tries again, and again, and then squeezes his eyes shut and makes a straining face. Nothing.

Laura grins. "Problem?" she asks.

He ignores her, then nudges at one of the hands with his shoes. "Um, can you pick them up for me?"

"I don't want to touch those creepy-ass things!" she snaps.

Julian glares at her.

"Have fun with that," she says. She waves, then heads down the hallway, in a considerably lighter mood.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Just remembered how funny this story is and decided it deserves updating. 

* * *

><p><strong>-2-<br>**

* * *

><p><em><strong>10:00 am<br>Julian's room**_

The morning sun peeks through a crack in the cardboard—a patch for his broken window—and illuminates the mounds of laundry, food containers, pop cans and various belongings littering Julian's floor and part of his bed. A single ray of light brushes his face, and his nose twitches once. Then again.

He reaches up and scratches his nose, then smiles sleepily to himself and re-snuggles his pillow. He's having a good dream, about Sofia. There's not much talking in it.

His nose twitches again, and annoyed, he reaches up and re-scratches it. A little too hard—his fingernails scrape against it painfully, and he winces, but the pain is gone quickly. He shrugs sleepily, and begins to return to his dream. He's actually cupping her breast in his palm.

_Fingernails?_

The corners of his mouth turn down slightly. _Wait a second. _His eyelids begin to flutter open, and when they do part, his blue eyes focus on the hand lying on the pillow right in front of it, the fingers lightly curled in a shape reminiscent of a breast. His eyebrows draw together, and a few moments pass, then he flexes the hand.

It responds.

He sits up straight in his bed and stares at his fingers. They clench in front of him—and then he realizes there is another hand as well, and he brings that up to his face, for examination. For about ten minutes, he just stares at the constructs. Then his eyes slowly raise to his dresser, and he sees the set of metal hands resting on the top, ready for action.

Julian would never admit to crying, but at this moment he bursts into confused, overwhelmed tears.

...

_**10:00 am  
>Laura and Nori's room<strong>_

_BRRRRRIIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGGGGG!  
><em>_**  
><strong>_Laura's alarm clock goes off, and she slaps around on her table, her eyes scrunched closed. Then, because she gets frustrated at not finding it immediately...

_**VRRRRRRMMM! **_

_**CRUNCH!**_

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Laura shrieks, scrambling up in bed and staring at the alarm clock. Or, rather, the smoking hole in the wall behind where it had previously been. She blinks, trembling, and then finally scrapes up the balls to go and investigate. She reaches into the hole tentatively, and touches the metal clock with the tips of her fingers.

_**"AAAGHH!" **_She jerks her hand back quickly, the fingertips reddened and stinging. Laura grits her teeth and waits, knowing the pain will go away in a few moments.

A few moments pass.

And then a few more.

And then...a few _more._

"Oh my god," she says, to no one in particular. Looking up, she sees that she is alone, Nori probably having left already to start her library studying period. Her mind swims. What—who can she see? _Logan, _she decides quickly. She runs to the door, rips it open, slams it behind her, then pauses as she realizes she is wearing only a thin tank-top and underwear. She turns around and tries to open the door, but the lock must have been on. Rolling her eyes, she makes a fist and twitches the muscle to pop a claw.

Nothing happens.

She twitches the muscle again.

Nothing happens.

"..." Laura stares at her hand in confusion.

Then she bursts into tears of frustration.

**...**

_**10:20 AM  
>Hallway between Dorm Rooms<strong>_

Julian stops in his tracks. He'd been on his way to the headmaster's office, to see Professor Logan for some answers—since Dr. McCoy is elsewhere—but a peculiar sight has presented itself, in the form of Laura Kinney wandering the halls in her skimpy pajamas.

Her arms are folded tightly across her chest, and her expression is one of distress. She catches sight of him and comes to a halt as well.

"Don't you look at me!" she snaps.

"Why _would_ I look?" he demands coolly. "I was just wondering what the hell you were doing."

"I got locked out of my room." Laura pauses. "Could I borrow a t-shirt from you?"

He wrinkles his nose. "And get your clone-sweat all over it? No thanks."

"Look, I'm in a desperate situation here!" she pleads.

"So was I, yesterday...remember?" Julian pauses. "Guess what _I_ can do now." He raises his hand-his real hand-and gives her the finger.

Laura's eyes fixate on his hand. "What the—where—_how—_is Elixir back?!"

"Nope," he says, grinning. "I woke up and there they were. Must be like some awesome secondary mutation or something."

She raises her eyebrows. "What, the power to grow spare hands? You're a lame rip-off of Anole."

"Shut up," he replies, but something's different about the way he says it now. His voice is easier, more relaxed, like he is in an especially good mood. "This is the best day ever," he confirms. "Even _you_ can't bring me down, Kinney."

Laura glares at him. "My day isn't going too well, because you're being an uncharitable jerk. All I asked for is to lend me a fucking t-shirt."

"And I said no." He pauses. "Have fun with the free show! Maybe someone will take pity and donate—"

_**"GRRR!" **_She slams him against the wall of the hallway, her one hand seizing his collar, and her other forming a fist. She twitches her claw muscles.

And twitches it again.

And again.

Laura looks down at her fist for the second time today, her eyebrows drawing together.

"I'm waiting," Julian taunts, his sneer growing. "You can't even bring yourself to—"

_**BOMF! **_as she punches him in the nose. His head snaps back, and then forward, and he grits his teeth against the pain radiating in the middle of his face. Laura stares at the damage with raised eyebrows, surprised-the tip of his nose has a definite leftward tilt now.

_**"YOU BUCKING BIDCH!" **_he roars, blood spurting onto his collar. "You boke my bucking _nobe! _I'll—" There is a sound like a pepper grinder, and his nose straightens. "—tear your spine out?" he finishes uncertainly.

Laura's eyebrows draw together again, and she examines his nose closely. "You have a healing factor," she finally says.

Julian blinks.

"Awesome!" he says, and then he head-butts her.

**...**

_**10:30 AM  
>Hallway between Dorm Rooms<strong>_

Julian is straddling her shoulders now, pinning her limbs to the ground with his knees, and is just hauling back his fist to give the girl he absolutely hates a prize-winning, knockout blow, when it happens for the first time.

_**SNIKT!**_

"AWWWRGGHH!" he shouts, at an unexpected burst of pain in his hands. It disappears almost instantly, leaving...

They both turn their heads to gaze at the three razor-sharp, bone-white claws sticking out from between his knuckles, covered in blood and mucus.

"...okay," Julian says, his brow wrinkling.

Laura's eyebrows shoot straight up, and her face fills with accusing. "You _stole_ my clone-thing from me, you douche-bag!" she shouts.

He looks back at her. "You can't be serious."

"I _am!" _Laura kicks the ground with her heel. "Those are my claws! That's what they look like without metal!" She pauses. "It all makes sense—the healing...your hands...my alarm clock..."

"Your alarm clock?" Julian looks even more confused.

"I _thought_ you busted into my room today," Laura says, her lip curling. "When my alarm clock went off this morning, there was a big green flash and your power noise—and my clock made a smoking hole in the wall. It was _so_ you."

"..." he stares at her. "I don't-what in the hell logic are you using?"

"You must have snuck in through the window to creep on me." Laura pauses. "Then you stole my clone-thing! You're a _complete asshole!" _

"I've never heard anything more ridiculous in my life." Julian sneers. "I wouldn't creep on you if you _paid_ me. And no—I didn't _steal_ your _clone thing. _These are _my _cool powers."

"Don't believe me? Here!" Laura wiggles her arms out from under his knees and reaches up. "_Smell!" _

"Why in the hell would I want to smell your..." he trails off, as suddenly an overpowering aroma fills his nostrils, similar to the way an oven full of cookies slowly permeates the air with cookie-odor. His forehead wrinkles, and he looks down at her.

"Okay...this is definitely weird." He pauses. "But I did _not_ take your...clone thing."

Laura pauses. "Then why the hell were you in my r—" her eyes widen as she realizes something, and she tries to shove him away. "Oh my god—oh my _god—_I'm going to be _sick! __**GET OFF!"**_

"Wha-" he starts.

_**VRRRRRRMMMM!**_

_**KA-SMACK!**_

Julian slides down the wall, feeling his ribs popping in an odd way. "Urrrgh," he says, then hits the floor and feels his spine realigning with an additional series of cracks. For a moment he concentrates on breathing past the pain, and then suddenly it is gone. His claws have retracted somewhere along the way, too. He looks up at Laura, who is covering her mouth, her eyes closed.

"Think I figured it out too," he says, in a grim tone.

"Oh my _god_. I have your powers in my head," Laura says. She pauses. "I have to end myself."

"Shut up." He gets to his feet, feeling another series of pops as joints realign themselves. "This healing thing feels really weird."

Laura ignores him. "We need to see Logan, _**NOW!**_"

"Agreed." Julian pauses, his eyes slipping down to her chest finally, despite his talk of being completely uninterested. Laura follows his gaze, and sees that on strap has been entirely ripped in the struggle-and she is exposed on one side.

_**SNIKT! **_as Julian's claws pop again.

They both flush, and she quickly pulls the fabric up to cover herself.

"Uh, do you still want a t-shirt?" he asks, his voice a little uneven.

Laura glares at him.

**...**

_**10:40 AM  
>Julian's room<strong>_

Julian pauses, in the middle of opening the door to his room. Then he makes a choking noise, and slams it shut, shuddering.

Laura gives him a questioning look.

"Never knew how bad it smelled in there," he mumbles, his hand against the door. He pauses, then pinches his nose and wrenches the door open again with his other hand. "Uhh, I think I have some clean t-shirts in the closet," he says in a very nasally voice.

Laura peers into the room. "Oh my god—this is a _hell-hole!_" she exclaims.

Julian shrugs as he wades through the piles of laundry toward his closet. "I was...busy. Hey, how do I make these things go back in?" He is referring to his claws, which are still ready for action.

"There should be a muscle in your wrist and forearm," she answers. "Relax it."

He pauses, trying to do as instructed. On the third try, the claws finally slide back in with a gentle, sliding _snakkkt_ noise. He examines his knuckles, amazed that the wounds from the claws are already completely healed, as if they had never been.

And then he's amazed all over again that he _has _hands.

He reaches toward the closet and makes a fist, then remembers that he can't do that anymore. He crosses the last few feet and begins rummaging through the clothes on the hanger. Finally he pulls out a grey sweater with a large round _X_ on it and holds it up questioningly.

"Perfect."

He heads back over and starts to give it to her, then hesitates. His eyes slip to her top, which she is still holding up with one hand. "Okay—I've got to ask if I can touch it," he says.

Laura's eyes narrow. "Is this your idea of a sick joke?"

"No." Julian winces. "I wish it was. I really hate you—I really, _really _hate you, Kinney. Worse than Ashida...or Alleyne. Like no one else in this world. Let's just say that if I saw your guts rotting in the trash, I'd throw a party." He pauses. "That said…I'll admit, you have one of the best racks I've ever seen."

She raises an eyebrow. "That's a mixed compliment if I ever heard one," she says. "But I thought you wouldn't creep on me if I _paid _you, remember?"

Julian shrugs. "I meant that I wouldn't go out of my way or anything. But...come on. It's right _there,_ and I just got my hands back. I need to break them in."

"The answer is _hell no, _Keller. Hand that sweater over."

He pauses, then holds it up above his head. "Let me see them first. Ten seconds. Come on. Then I swear I'll let you borrow this. You can _have_ it."

Laura scowls at him, and then…her eyes begin to glow.

"Oh sh—" he starts.

_**VRRRRMMMM!**_

Julian stumbles backward into the closet. He tries to grab onto the sides but fails and falls in through the slightly open door. He blindly grabs at anything and everything to slow his fall…and the result is that the then the rod holding his clothes up gives way in a fantastic, muffled _crash!_

A moment later, Laura approaches him to survey the damage, now wearing his sweater. "Quite an annoying power, hmm?" she asks him sweetly.

He glares up at her through a mess of pant legs and sweaters that have fallen on top of him. "I could cut you, you know. And you wouldn't heal."

"I don't think so." Laura reaches out and slams the closet door on him, then leaves his room, grinning.

**...**

_**11:00 AM  
>Headmaster's Office<strong>_

Logan rubs his temples. "Christ. I _knew _letting that Summers kid visit was a bad idea."

Laura folds her arms. "Summers _anything _is always a bad idea. Thought you knew that by now."

"Heh." Her pseudo-father leans his chin on his hand. "Okay. So it seems pretty cut and dry to me—just get her back here to undo whatever voodoo she put on you guys."

The girl sits up straighter. "You mean—she _left?_"

"Yeah, she teleported back to Utopia. After ranting to me about what you and the Keller kid said to her." Logan pauses. "You pissed her off something good."

"Shit," Laura says, wrinkling her nose. "That means—Logan, I'm _vulnerable _right now! What if someone like Kimura comes?"

"Then you use the powers you do have to hold her off till I get there."

She pauses. "But I'm not practiced with it! I don't know how it works. I—I mostly end up tapping into it when I'm mad."

"Then I'd recommend training with Keller until you _get_ good at it."

Laura sputters. "Are you out of your mind? I—I—there are no _words. _Logan…I can survive thirty-four kinds of torture, but your solution would literally kill me. _Please_. Be reasonable."

"Quit yer whining." Logan fixes her with a stern look. "I think this will be a _good_ experience for you two. Teach ya how to work as a team. Shit, maybe I should make _all_ the kids do this."

Laura unfolds her arms and glares at him. "Logan, you _can't—_"

"I can do whatever the hell I see fit, kid." He grins. "I'll look into it. But for the meantime—you and Keller, in the practice rooms...until you're as good with telekinesis as he is."

"Surely you're joking."

"No, I'm not. What's more—I expect you to teach him how to fight with your powers. Can't have a bunch of kids who have no clue how to defend themselves."

"I thought you were trying to get away from the whole militant kids idea!" Laura protests.

"That don't apply in your case. Now go on—I have paperwork to do." He waves her away. For a moment she remains sitting, speechless, then she stomps away and the door slams behind her. She runs into Julian outside a few steps outside, obviously on his way to see Logan.

He looks uncertain. "You think—"

"I don't want to talk to you!" Laura snaps, her eyes glowing. "If you keep bothering me, I will do what you always threaten me with and choke you with your own intestines!"

Julian is silent for a few moments, looking disconcerted. "I heard that we have to practice together?" he asks, finally, his tone carefully neutral.

"I think he's not going to reverse this anytime soon," Laura says, her teeth bared in a snarl. "He's going to sit on his ass and let us simmer. Payback for all the trouble _you_ caused when you picked fights with me!"

"Wait a minute—I didn't pick _all _of those fights!" Julian glares at her. "They were mutual."

"They sure as hell were not!" she rages. "You're like a mosquito, Keller. You're insignificant and annoying—and you live to provoke slaps."

_**SNIKT! **_

Julian glances down involuntarily at the claws between his fingers. "Yeah—well—you're an irritable cunt!" he retorts.

Laura grins. "I have no inhibitions about making your life miserable...and I love irony. There'd be nothing sweeter than harassing you in _all_ the ways you harassed me and my friends over the years. Remember all the keep-away games? The pantsings? The unwarranted mud fights? The art classes you turned into unmitigated disasters? Because _I _sure do."

He pales slightly. "Look—seeing as we're being forced to stay in this situation—maybe we should back off. What if we just do what Wolverine said? If we cooperate right away, maybe he'll let us off the hook quicker."

Laura pauses. "Why did you call me a cunt, then?"

"Reflex," he answers. "Just like these fucking things. Why won't they stay in? I didn't see _you_ popping your claws every time you were mad."

"That's because I have years of expertise with them, Keller." She narrows her eyes. "Which I will in no way or form be sharing with you."

"Fine," he says, curling his upper lip. "Good luck controlling a power that basically makes what you _think_ actually _happen._"

"Haven't had trouble with it yet," she points out smugly. "Maybe it's only hard for _you._"

He grins. "Oh, sure. Trust me—wait till you zone out in class. You have another thing coming."

"I'm looking forward to it," Laura says.

They turn around and head in opposite directions.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: ****Hey, glad people are enjoying this story! Updates are slow for everything right now since I am really busy with school. I took a bunch of courses to finish up series this quarter, including Molecular Biology, Organic Chemistry, General Chemistry & Statistics...sooo...please be patient. None of my stories are forgotten! :o)  
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**Also, special note for this story: I had a few chapters written for it, but needed to spend a bit of time meditating on a plot point. Decision has been made, so it can proceed unheeded. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>2:00 PM<br>Mutant Literature Class**_

It doesn't take long for Julian's words of warning on the difficulties of managing telekinesis to come true. The weekend passes with little to no occurrences, Laura not using the powers nor telling anyone that she has then. She doesn't see _him_ again, and every day that she does not, she goes to bed feeling smug and happy.

And then that all goes to hell in mutant literature class. She'd pulled an all-nighter cramming for a Chemistry exam in the morning, and as such, she's extremely drowsy. Drowsiness seems to be an even harder thing for Laura to handle, because she's used to her body being able to go about four days without sleep in a pinch and still be fully functional. Now, feeling the regular reaction to an all-nighter feels all the more devastating. This is at times mildly countered with caffeine. One small perk of the power switch is that caffeine now actually _has_ an effect, as her metabolism has slowed down slightly, and so she has a tall latte on her desk.

But it's doing little to keep her awake right now. Her eyes begin to cross as she stares at the teacher, and then she shakes her head and looks around the room, to try and wake herself up. She decides to allow herself to ogle a few of the more attractive male specimens in the room, since that never fails to keep her awake. And she hasn't done it since the days of the Xavier academy. Before everything went to hell. There's new blood to assess.

Very carefully, she begins to scope the area around her. She can see Quentin Quire out of her peripheral vision, but winces automatically. Ahead of her is sitting the kid from the Shi'ar, who apparently calls himself Kid Gladiator or something. She's awarded him the title of Captain Douchebag. _No aliens. _Next, she briefly considers Indra, and raises her eyebrows slightly. _Possibly. _She's never thought about him that way before, but studying his profile, she realizes that he is one of the more pleasant and balanced guys in the school—and that he isn't too disgusting looking. _Exotic, too._

Then she notices Julian in the corner, and freezes. _Hell no, _she thinks, and then she pauses.

She winces again.

After a moment she moves on to Rockslide, but her mind is still on the last candidate. Finally she glances at him again. She mentally subtracts the rotten personality, and remembers the one time she'd seen him smile instead of sneering, and she feels the mental scales tip ever-so-slightly.

For a moment she debates this, then she leans back in her chair slightly, for a better—but discrete—look. _Hmm, _she thinks. _I haven't seen him wear a X-rubber for a while. I wonder if he still has the standard-issue washboard abs—_

_**VRRRMMM!**_

Julian is slammed backward in his seat as his shirt and tie fly up in a wave of green. Laura turns beat red and buries her face in her arms, absolutely mortified. The teacher has stopped talking and is watching the scene, as is the rest of the class.

"Umm...Mr. Keller?" Ms. Guthrie asks, raising her eyebrows.

"What the hell, Julian?" Mercury asks, from the seat behind him.

The said Julian is smoothing down his clothing and shooting a look at Laura. "Ask _her_," he says loudly. "Like I said, I can't use my powers right now."

All eyes turn to Laura, whose head is still buried in her arms.

"...Laura?" Nori asks from the desk beside her, confused.

"_Go away!" _Laura moans, from inside the shield of her arms. A few people are beginning to giggle.

Then Quire hammers in the last nail on the coffin, in a loud and obnoxious tone of voice. "Yeah, didn't you guys hear? They switched powers or something lame. She was rating you all on your looks just now...well, anyone who has a dick got judged, anyway. Come see me after class for the rankings."

Laura stumbles out of her chair and runs for the door. She slams it behind herself and continues running all the way up to her room.

**...**

_**4:00 PM  
>Laura and Nori's room<strong>_

The door to the room opens, but Laura keeps her head under the covers, hoping fervently that Nori will assume she's asleep.

No such luck.

"What the hell _was _that in Lit earlier?!" Nori demands.

Laura peers over the edge of the covers. "What was what?"

"You know what I mean." Nori pauses. "Keller and Kincaid filled me in on your power thing...so I get that. But really—what the _hell_ were you thinking?"

"I don't know." Laura draws her knees up to her chest. "He warned me this would happen. That any stupid thought I have could suddenly become reality."

"I don't call this stupid—I call it a disaster." Nori shakes her head. "You _know_ that if you start looking at him that way, I'll stop being your friend."

"Shut up," Laura says. "Or should I just ignore the time you made out with him?"

Nori looks annoyed. "That's different and you _know _it. I only did that to keep David safe. It was a sacrifice for love."

"Mhmm." The dark-haired girl flops on her back again. "I don't know how I can go to class tomorrow. There's just no way I can face all those accusing eyes." She pauses. "Oh, god...did Quire actually-"

"Yep." Nori looks grim. "Indra wanted you to know he's not interested. And 'Captain Douchebag' wants to prove himself to you, he's almost obsessed—I think he declared it as some kind of quest—"

"Don't tell me." Laura rubs her temples. "My _god._"

"I'm totally disappointed that you gave that title to someone other than Keller, by the way," Nori says, her nose wrinkled.

"He used to hold it." She grins. "But then the Gladiator guy came in...and, well, he's worse than Quire and Keller put together. Come to think of it—we have like three _decent_ guys in this hellhole. Five, if Anole and Greymalkin count."

"They're not on the market, so no." Nori folds her arms. _"Swear _to me you won't pursue this path, Laura. Down the Keller road lies hellfire and eternal damnation."

"Do you have a bible?" Laura counters.

"Nope," Nori says cheerfully. "They're only good for stabilizing wobbly tables."

The girls trade weak grins.

**...**

_**9:30 PM  
>Laura and Nori's room<strong>_

Laura wakes up from the nap she's been taking to the sound of a knock on the door. She glances around the room, sees that Nori is not present, and figures it out—she left her keys here. She slips out of her bed, moves to the door, and opens it.

"That happened to me the other day-" she begins, but then she sees that it's _not_ Nori-it's Julian. Her eyes narrow to slits. "Go _away!" _she snaps, and begins to shove the door closed again. He sticks his foot in between it and the frame.

"I do _not_ want to talk to you!" she shouts, putting her weight on the wood.

"_Grrrr! _Ouch! Cut it out!" He shoves the door aside and she falls back, surprisingly unable to compensate. She has been losing strength every day since the power switch, while he has been gaining it, thanks to the trading of her healing factor which provides increased muscle nourishment.

Laura glares at him. "I still have the brain-juice thing, you know. Don't make me angry."

"I thought we should talk," he says, folding his arms and leaning on the doorframe. "I mean, I _warned _you something like earlier was going to happen. You can prevent shit like that."

"It's easy enough to do," Laura says, her nose wrinkled. "I just need to be careful what I think about. No more stupid thoughts."

"Like _that'll _happen." He smirks at her. "If you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask, you know—I'll even do it for free."

Laura looks down. "I am going to kill you in three seconds if you don't leave this room."

"Seriously. You know you can't control what you think about every second of the day." He pauses, unfolds his arms. "Let's just do what Wolverine said. Once. Okay?"

Laura raises her eyebrows. "Why are you so anxious to become an expert with my powers?"

Julian doesn't reply—but he looks embarrassed.

She puts two and two together, and her eyes widen. "So you can score points with Sofia and creep on her. Oh my _god!_ That is so messed up!"

"Not creep on her!" he protests. "Just...you know. Listen to what she says. I haven't learned to focus on conversations at a distance. I don't want to spy on her—I just thought—well—" he pauses. "I thought maybe she'd be impressed if I could anticipate things she likes or want to do."

Silence.

Laura wrinkles her nose. "Better watch yourself, Keller...soon you won't even be Captain Douchebag's sidekick, if you keep that up."

"Wait a minute—_what?_" he demands.

"I demoted you from the actual Douchebag position when Gladiator showed up," she explains. "I realized you at least don't mock my entire _species._ Your title is forthcoming."

Julian curls his lip and says nothing.

Laura purses her lips. "I suppose…we _could_ agree to work together in mastering a few things. You teach me how not to do stupid things with your brain juice, and I'll show you how to eavesdrop effectively." She pauses. "And I can teach you how to track people with your nose. But you _can't _in any way use this to hurt or harass Sofia, got it?"

"Got it." He nods, then pauses. "Oh, Laura…one more thing."

Laura raises her eyebrows.

Julian reaches down—grabs the hem of his shirt—and raises it, exposing his abdomen.

"Ugh!" she exclaims. "Put that disgusting thing away. You look like a dead body, Keller."

"Then why are you staring at me?" he asks, smirking.

She shakes her head. "I—I'm not." But the truth is…she _is. _She can see that the skin is stretched tightly over his abdomen, which is quite well chiseled into definable muscles. He drops the shirt again and raises his eyebrows. "You can blink now," he says.

Laura's cheeks flame. "You're something else, you know that?"

"Yeah." He suddenly steps into the room, and she takes an involuntary step backward. "What are you doing?!" she demands.

"Well…I thought we might have some fun," he says, shoving the door closed. "Since you like looking at me so much."

She blinks. "Get out…or I'll throw you through the door."

"Oh, come on," he scoffs. "Forget pretending you don't like what you see. I have your powers, remember?" He reaches down for the hem of his shirt again and this time he pulls it over his head. Laura backs up another few steps, her eyes glued to his front.

"Put it back on," she says in a voice that is suspiciously squeaky.

"It's a thin line between hate and attraction," he says, holding his bunched-up t-shirt in front of his navel and looking at it. "I'm mature enough to admit that I hate your personality…but I've spent enough time rough housing with you that I'm ready to try something else."

"I…" Laura lets her arms drop to her side, and her forehead wrinkles. "I'm not."

"You're the one who started it," he says. "Took my clothes off in public, didn't you?"

"Just stop." She bites her lip. "I don't want to do anything with you. But…I guess you can _look_, for a few seconds. Since you're kind of putting yourself on the spot." She realizes that she hasn't looked away from his abdomen since he removed his shirt, and that she is very flushed. "Lock the door. I don't want Nori barging in and getting ideas."

"To be honest, I think the whole school has them already," he says, moving toward her with his hands outstretched.

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa!_" Laura snaps, and he freezes.

"I didn't agree to you _touching _me!"

Julian shrugs. "Hurry up, then."

Laura shakes her head slightly, grabs the hem of her own t-shirt and peels it off—revealing her bra—then flings it onto the bed behind herself.

_**SNIKT! **_

Neither of them look at his claws this time. She reaches behind herself for the hooks, but he holds up his hand. "Wait—please—can I do that?" he asks, his voice soft.

His tone is what makes her hesitate. "Uhh…" she says, uncertainly.

"Please," he breathes, moving a little closer. Laura finally nods, and allows him to reach around her body to grapple with the hooks, moving carefully so as not to scratch her with the claws. She closes her eyes, and realizes he's right—all this time she's been fighting him has built up to this. She can feel the heat of his body along her front. He pauses on the last hook, and breathes in her ear slightly. "You want me," he murmurs.

Laura nods again, very slowly.

**...**

_**10:00 PM  
>Laura and Nori's room<strong>_

The door opens very suddenly.

It takes a few moments for Laura to register what has happened, since she'd kind of lost track of her surroundings during the frenzied period of making out that had followed the de-clothing. When it hits her she freezes, raises her head, and stares at the door.

Julian also looks up at the newest occupant of the room from where he is lying on the bed. He grins. "Hey, Ashida!" he calls, in a cheerful, breathless voice.

"Oh my god," Laura says, her face turning red. "Oh my _god._"

Nori drops the books she was holding and looks away, shielding her eyes. "Are you _kidding _me, Laura?"

"Um," Laura replies. She closes her eyes. "I'm a very, very bad friend-"

"Really." The blue-haired girl grits her teeth. "A very, very bad friend would wait more than _six hours_ to break a pact. That's..._ugh. _I think I'm going to be sick."

"I think I am, too," Laura says, burying her face in her hands. "Oh my _god_. This is-"

"Either keep riding or get off the pony," Julian interrupts. She parts her fingers and glares at him, her eyes glowing. "_What_ did you say?"

"Bad joke," he says, wincing as he realizes what a vulnerable position he is in right now, cornered against the pillows. "Please...please...don't hurt me."

"Ugh," Nori says again. "Laura, I'm going to the common room...and when I get back, I expect you to be _gone. _I can't room with you anymore."

"But-" Laura blinks, sits back. "Nori-this didn't _mean_ anything! We didn't-I-"

Nori slams the door shut, and there is the sound of running footsteps in the hall.

Laura makes a broken noise, and Julian covers his face with his hands. "I've never seen anyone get into as many awkward situations as you do," he comments, after a few moments have gone by.

She doesn't respond. He sits up and touches her sides. "Hey-calm down. It's not the end of the world, you know."

"Sh-shut up!" she says between gritted teeth.

"Ashida will come around. You know what she's like."

Laura shudders. "I have nowhere to go! And now-_oh my god-_" her eyes widen. "-I'll have to tell Logan why Nori kicked me out!"

"Just lie," he says, suddenly concerned for his own wellbeing. He pictures Logan's reaction to hearing that he was getting busy with his daughter, and he feels a little sick to his stomach. What was he _thinking? _He doesn't even _like _Laura. Has he just blown his chances with Sofia? He has, hasn't he?

"He can _smell _lies!" She groans.

Julian pauses. "Does that mean I can, too?"

"Yeah." Laura looks down to the side of the bed, at their clothes strewn on the floor. "Fuck _me_," she says in a bitter tone.

"Okay."

She glares at him. "Not funny."

Julian hesitates. "Isn't that where this was going?"

"Are you crazy?" she glares at him.

"No, just turned on...and you don't want me to spread word that you're a tease, do you?"

"If you breathe _one single word _of this to anyone-" Laura begins, her eyes glowing again.

"Yeah, yeah. You'll disembowel me. I'll grow a new set." He grins. "But more seriously-I wasn't really planning on yelling it out from the rooftops. If you were Sofia-_damn_-it would be a different story."

Laura glares at him. He closes his eyes and runs a hand through his hair, breathes through his mouth as he tries to repress his arousal. "I thought that's what you wanted to hear."

"It didn't exactly turn me on." She shakes her head slightly, purses her lips. "I need to move a whole bunch of stuff very quickly. I can't risk word of this getting out."

Julian looks at her again. "You've got my powers now, so that should be a piece of cake."

"But where will I _go?_" She bites her lip.

He gazes at her for a moment. A thought has occurred to him, but he's not sure if he should trust it. He's not exactly in his right mind at the moment. Then again, everything is crazy right now—so why not just roll with it? He gives a mental shrug. "I don't have a roommate right now."

Laura gapes at him. She can't even respond. "Are you _insane?_" she finally manages.

"Hear me out," he says, his voice serious. "I'm kind of concerned of having Wolverine kill me if he catches wind of this. If we keep everything between us…then no one has to know. Right?"

Laura considers this. "But I _hate_ you," she says in a puzzled tone.

"Yeah, the feeling's mutual," he says. "But I'm not stupid-I know when saving my own skin's more important than riling people up. So I'll leave you alone, and you work at getting Nori to change her mind." He pauses. "And we can go back to open warfare after. It'll be like a temporary ceasefire."

She seems to consider this. Her eyebrows draw together, and she gives him a doubtful look.

He grins. "I'll even clean the place up."

Laura rolls her eyes. "Oh, _fine._" She gets off of him and reaches for her clothes. "Tell me how to do this magical move where I can haul all this stuff at once. Wait-what if someone _sees _me?"

"Even better-we can move it through the windows," he says. "Mine is three down from yours and two to the left."

"What the-you _did_ break in here, didn't you!" Laura glares at him, and he grins.

"Once, to get material for blackmailing Ashida with."

"You're a complete asshole."

"And Ashida isn't." He rolls his eyes. "I've met villains nicer than her."

"Please, don't talk about my friend like that."

A pause. "Okay," he says seriously.

"What the hell?" Laura wrinkles her nose. "You're going to listen _now_, after years of my asking you to stop?"

"You said 'please' this time."

Laura closes her eyes, and mentally repeats '_don't make him explode' _a few times. "Shut up and show me how to move this crap."

**...**

_**11:00 PM  
>Julian's (and Laura's temporary) room<strong>_

"Have you _ever_ washed these sheets?" Laura asks, surveying what will be her new quarters for the next little while.

Julian shrugs, his arms full of garbage. "Maybe once? I don't keep track of that kind of shit."

She moves the cover aside, then retracts her hand in horror. "Oh my _god. _OH my GOD."

"What?" he pauses by the trash bag he's been filling. The room is already much cleaner, and he's removed the cardboard cover on the window to let the breeze float in.

"There's a crusty white stain," Laura says, shuddering.

He grins. "Oops."

"Get me a new bed, immediately." She pauses. "And maybe like an air mattress, for you...although in a pinch you could sleep in the closet or something."

He rolls his eyes and dumps the trash in the bag. "I can get new sheets...probably."

"Make it happen." She flips the cover back over the stain. "My god, I've never been so repulsed in my _life._ I allowed myself to stand in the presence of one of your gross byproducts. I want to take a bath in acid." She tries not to think of what she was doing earlier.

"Oh shit-the bathroom," Julian says, running a hand through his hair and wincing.

"What?" Laura asks, alarmed.

"Um...don't go in there till I'm finished, okay?"

She gazes at him, then suddenly turns on her heel and barges into the said bathroom. She turns on the lights and recoils in horror.

_**"OH MY GODDD!" **_

"Look-it's not what you think!" Julian shouts, behind her now. "I asked Professor McCoy about it. It has to do with that living island thing-Krakoa."

Laura's face is frozen in a grimace.

"I swear to god, it's not mold."

"Keller...the green is coming _out_ of the toilet," she says in wonder. "By about _two feet."_

"Seriously, it's Krakoa. I clean it daily...but he grows really fast...and if I don't use the toilet much in a day, he completely over runs it." Julian pauses. "He started by busting out the self-cleaning flame system, which I actually kind of appreciated, cause mine was faulty. It was like—you never knew if your toilet was about to turn into a campfire."

Laura leans on the doorframe. "I hate my life."

"Um, it gets worse." He pauses. "I usually do the cleaning with my powers...so that's going to be your job, for a bit. I'll teach you how."

"Absolutely not." Laura turns around and glares at him. "I will tell Logan what you did to me last night before I touch that repulsive thing."

Julian pauses. "It was worth a try," he says.

"No it wasn't." She glares at him. "Get me those god-damn bed sheets, _now._"

He folds his arms. "No reason to be nasty, Kinney."

She continues to glare at him, and after a moment he backs up and heads for the room's entrance.

**...**

_**1:00 AM  
>Julian's (and Laura's temporary) room<strong>_

"What in the _fuck_ do you think you're doing?" Laura demands, staring at the boy in wonder. She's lying in the center of his freshly-changed bed (mattress flipped), tucked into his comforter with a book in her hands-_The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, _by Stieg Larson. Her green eyes look especially expressive in the dim light coming from his lamp beside the bed.

Julian feels a surge of irritation.

"Going to sleep," he says. "I have class in the morning."

"We are _not_ sleeping together."

He looks annoyed. "Just pretend it's a sleepover, if it bothers you so much."

"It _does_ bother me, and it's _not_ a sleepover!" Laura snaps. "And I've never had one of _those, _so that's not a comfortable notion to me anyways!"

He raises his eyebrows. "You've never had a sleepover?"

Laura purses her lips, glaring at him. She is not about to tell him anything regarding her personal history.

"Look...I'll stay at the very edge of the bed here. I won't touch you."

Laura considers this. "Fine," she says at last.

He raises the sheet again and slips into the bed. She promptly turns her back to him, and after rolling his eyes, he does the same. Laura tries to read for a few more moments, fails, and tosses her book on the nightstand, then turns out the light.

"Night," he says.

"Don't talk to me!" she reprimands. "I'm pretending you're not here."

"Okay."

_"What did I just say?!" _

Silence.

Laura grabs the comforter and pulls, leaving himself with no covers. To add insult to injury, she reaches under his head and yanks the pillow away.

"What the-" he sits up.

"You're not here, remember?"

"Yes I am. You're just acting like a five-year-old and pretending I'm not."

"It's a coping mechanism." Laura pauses. "Need I remind you...I didn't start this."

"Pretty sure you did," he says.

She sits up. "I so did not!"

They glare at each other in the dark.

"I'm not the one who tried to strip my clothes off in public," Julian says. "I'd say you came onto me pretty strong. There was even an audience."

"I hate you," she says.

"Good. Now give me some blanket and a pillow."

"No!" she says stubbornly.

"Do it or I'll spread word that you're a tease."

Laura's eyes glow in the dark. "You _wouldn't." _

"If you don't play fair, then neither will I," he counters. "Like I said before-let's just get through this, and soon enough Wolverine will see that we're good, and help us. Everything will die down after a while...if you don't force me to stir it up again."

She considers this, then passes him the stolen pillow.

"Thank you."

"I hope it's lumpy," Laura says sourly, flopping on her side with her back to him again.

Julian doesn't respond, and eventually they both fall into an uneasy sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I used to write in past tense. Then I decided to try present tense. I've read stories that use present tense and find them to be more 'immersive', like I'm actually in the moment with the character. Decided to try it a few years ago, and I've never gone back. So the stories with past tense tend to be older work. This change in writing has one negative effect: I find it hard to write in past tense again, which means I also find it hard to work on older stories.  
><strong>

**Thanks for reading and hope you continue to enjoy! :)**

**PS: Before anyone says it, I'm well aware that X-23 doesn't really have any psychic immunity powers. What I've described here is more a take on Logan's 'berserker rages', when he goes ballistic and mindlessly attacks anything in range. I know that Quire has successfully messed with Wolverine's head, but he was also unable to stop Wolverine when he went feral, which gave rise to this idea. ****So this being a Laura-ability as well is kind of unique to my story**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>7:00 AM<br>Julian's (and Laura's temporary) room  
><strong>_

_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP..._

"Summun terniddoff," Julian mumbles. He's having a fantastic dream this morning: he's wrapped around Sofia, after having slept together, and his fingers are exploring her skin. It's very vivid; he can actually _feel_ the heat of her flesh, and the shape and weight of her breasts. He smiles sleepily and kisses her neck, breathing in her scent. It smells unbelievably rich, with a slight undertone of cinnamon to the general smell of _female._

_**VRRRM! **_

He frowns, slightly, not aware of having used his powers. Then suddenly his eyes snap open, and he realizes the dream is real...except it's not Sofia. _Of course it's not, _he thinks, a little annoyed. He is about to move like she has burned him when he stops in his tracks, weighing his options.

Laura hasn't tried to escape his hold yet, and there's a possibility she's awake and interested in a continuation of the other night, which - despite even his hatred of her as a person - had been pretty awesome. He thinks, vaguely, despite all their differences and hatred of each other, it is possible that they are very alike in one view: sex is just...sex. There doesn't _have_ to be a deeper meaning to it at all. He considers this, and whether he would like to do it with her, and finds that the answer is a simple _yes. _

Julian debates this for a moment more, then slides his hand lower.

And then Laura wakes up, and she looks over her shoulder. The look of death in her eyes tells him that he's just made a grave error in judgment. He swallows, and stops moving his fingers.

"Did you seriously just-" Laura's eyebrows draw together, and she reaches down and removes his hand like it is something disgusting, then sits up and fixes him with a very level glare. "Ground rules. You will never, ever, _ever_ touch me while I am asleep again. Claws or not...I will cut off whatever appendages you thrust in my direction, be it fingers, legs or dicks."

Julian sinks a little deeper into his pillow, his eyes wide. Suddenly, the memory of seeing her kill that Purifier for information is standing out very strongly in his mind. The look she's giving him means business, and he doesn't feel like calling her bluff.

Because she's not bluffing.

"Understand?" she demands.

Julian nods quickly, his forehead wrinkled and eyes wide.

"Secondly, you will _never_ try to initiate any kind of contact between us," she continues. "_If - _and that's a strong if - we _ever _do anything of that nature again, I will call the shots. In the meantime, you will _not _touch me, look at me sexually, or make any references or innuendo of any sort in _any_ conversation, private or public. Is that clear?"

He pauses. "You can't - seriously-come _on, _I have to be able to -"

"Do you _value_ your _balls_?" Laura's eyes narrow.

"Uhh-" he begins.

"And trust me - having a healing factor doesn't mean you're now pain-free...or trauma-free_. _Just ask Logan."

Julian pauses. "No need. I believe you."

"Good." Laura leans forward slightly. "One last condition."

He closes his eyes. "What else could you possibly ruin for me?"

"You stay the _hell_ away from my friends. Not one comment, not one shove, you don't even _look_ at them. If they provoke you in a fight, you walk away with your tail between your legs."

"No freakin' way." Julian sits up, and he looks angry now. "You might have the say in matters that involve your own body, but beyond that-"

"If you behave, and only _if, _I might allow you to touch me again." Laura's words seem to hang in the air for a few moments after she says them. He blinks.

"This has nothing to do with Sofia, right?" he asks. "You can't stop me from talking to her."

"It depends how you talk to her," Laura replies coolly. "If you are decent and friendly to her - without causing her undue stress - then that might be okay. Harass her, and all bets are off."

"I wouldn't - I _like_ her," Julian says. "She's the only one of you stupid fucks who is worth anything." He sees her look of anger. "I was - damn it, I was just making a point, okay? I didn't mean-"

"Better watch yourself." Laura arches her eyebrows. "Now, are you going to behave then?"

"Uhh-" he starts to nod, then stops himself. "I get a test run of what you're offering first."

"You already did." She folds her arms. "No more. I see...say...a month of good behavior...and then maybe."

"A _month?" _Julian wrinkles his nose. "Don't be absurd, Kinney. You might have a nice rack, but I'm not _that_ desperate to play with it again."

"Fine. Enjoy being a virgin." She starts to get out of the bed, and he reaches out and grabs her arm. "Wait - a week. I play nice guy for a week...and you give me a blowjob."

"Don't be absurd." She smiles sweetly at him. "I'm already cutting you a pretty fantastic deal here. I don't cause you bodily harm...I might even let you play with my fantastic body..._and_ if you're nice like you claim, for longer than a week - say, at the two month mark - I'll put in a good word for you with Sofia."

"Done," he says instantly. "Let's shake on it."

After a pause, Laura reaches out reluctantly and clasps his hand.

They shake.

"I've got class in fifteen, so I'll just hop in the shower quick," Laura says, getting out of the bed for real this time.

"Okay." He watches her go and then lays back on his pillow, slightly stunned. He'd never thought about it - could she _really_ turn the tide for him?

Is Laura the stepping stone to Sofia?

**...**

_**2:00 PM  
>Outside mutant literature class<strong>_

Laura is leaning on the wall outside her mutant literature class, a notebook clutched tightly against her chest. She tilts her head back and closes her eyes. There's no way she can face all those accusing eyes-and Nori, Nori will be the worst. She doesn't share any other classes with the girl, so she hasn't had to face her yet.

She could just _not _go.

Footsteps. She opens her eyes and sees a group of students heading toward the door, headed by Quire, who has a mean grin on his face.

"Oh look - Kinney's holding her diary," he says. "Wonder what she wrote in it."

She flushes. "I wrote _Quire has an ass-face, _and then I threw up," she retorts.

Quire glares at her, then snorts. "Anyone curious what she was doing at ten last night? Because _I _was...and I'll say this - not _what_, but _who._"

"HAH!" says the big wax boy standing on Quire's right. _Glob Herman. _

Laura turns beat red. This is going downhill much quicker than she'd thought possible. "Funny, _Quire _rhymes with _liar_," she tries.

"And that's why she's redder than a tampon," Quire says, grinning. "The best part is-"

"That she got some and you didn't," Julian interrupts loudly, rounding the corner of the hallway.

Quire glances over at the other boy, his eyes narrowing. "Let's see what we have here. Oh, this is juicy! You really-"

"With a face like yours, I would be pretty ticked off, too," he comments to Quire. "I'd say only a mother could love it, but then I remember that you're adopted. What a rough life you lead."

"Shut the fuck _up!_" Quire looks angry. "Who are _you_ to talk about parents anyways, you little shit?"

Julian pauses, his hand on the classroom door. "Mine at least waited to see how I'd turn out. I chose my friends over them, which kind of pissed them off. But yours...according to what Frost told me, they took one look at you and tossed you in a _dumpster_."

Quire flushes, a blotchy purple hue, and Julian grins at Laura, opens the door and enters the classroom.

She blinks for a moment, then follows him, whispering "Dumpster baby!" as she passes Quire.

"You've just made yourself an enemy, Kinney!" Quire shouts. "Stupid cun-" but his words are cut off by the door closing, and Laura suddenly feels too smug to notice the glances and whispers of her classmates.

**...**

_**4:30 PM  
>Nori's (and Laura's former) room<strong>_

Laura takes a deep breath, then knocks on the door to her old room.

A few moments later, Nori opens it, takes one look at her face, and slams it shut.

_**"NORI!" **_she shouts, pounding on the door again. "Please, I'm begging you - we need to talk, at least!"

_"I have nothing to say to you." _Her friend's voice is really muffled through the door, and Laura sighs, frustrated. If she had her hearing, she'd be able to tell just how angry her friend was. She'd be able to break the lock to talk to her.

Technically, she _could_ break the lock right now. She looks at it, wondering how Julian's power works, then gives it up as a lost cause. All it seems good for right now is causing her inordinate amounts of trouble - she'd probably tear down the whole door, and that would just piss Nori off more.

She heads down the hallway, now in a thoroughly bad mood. For a moment she can't remember how to get to Julian's room, and she stops in the hallway at a fork.

_**"ARRRGH!" **_she shouts, in frustration.

_**VRRRMMM!**_

The vase of ornamental wheat grass opposite her shatters in a large green explosion. She barely raises her arm in time to shield her face, and a shard of porcelain slices neatly through the skin of her wrist.

Her eyes growing wide, Laura hurries down the right fork, knowing she needs to leave the scene of the crime quickly. Toad is quite a grumpy janitor, and likes to take it out on the students when Logan isn't looking. She trips over a wrinkle in the rug and falls to her knees, her teeth clicking shut and catching her tongue.

"Ugghnnn..." she moans, sitting up. She tastes blood, and there is an almost dizzying amount of pain in her mouth. She lurches to her feet and heads to the nearest bathroom to check it out, feeling a surge of fear at the idea that she could have bitten it off-and that it wouldn't heal.

**...**

_**5:00 PM  
>Julian's (and Laura's temporary) room<strong>_

_**BAM!**_

Julian looks up from his desk as the door slams open to reveal a very pissed looking girl, her eyes narrowed into slits. He turns around in his chair, leaning on the back.

"Fuck you!" she snaps. "I wanth my healing back righth now!"

He raises his eyebrows. She sounds really strange - like something's wrong with her tongue.

Laura stomps in and slams the door behind her. "Almoth bith my thongue off," she confirms.

"Sounds like it," he says, then frowns. "Your arm is bleeding."

"Thath's becauth your powerth _**THUCK!" **_She flops face down on the bed. "I hathe you."

He lets his pencil drop, not feeling like working on calculus anymore. "What happened?"

"Don'th wanth thoo thalk abouth ith."

He grins. "You sound like-"

"Shuth up." She sits up and glares at him. "I mighth sound funny, buth I can sthill kick your ath withouth lifthing a finger."

Julian blinks. It's strange to hear his threats coming from someone else-especially from the disgruntled-looking Laura, his sworn enemy. After a moment, he realizes the effect is actually kind of cute, and he is hard-pressed not to laugh at her. "That's not entirely true, you know. Think - what did you always see _me_ doing?"

Laura pauses. "You dith thath thing with your - _ohhh!_" Her eyes widen. "Your hanth! Thath how you conthrol ith!"

"Yup." He studies her. "I'd recommend not trying that in here, though. You seem to have gotten my stronger power levels to start with. When I first practiced with it, I could only do little stuff. Frost unlocked my natural mental blocks to save a team member, and if you don't know what you're doing, it can be pretty destructive." He pauses. "I've been known to demolish walls when trying to move paperclips."

"Oh my goth." She draws her knees up against her chest. "Thith _sucks!_ I juth wanth my healing back."

Julian pauses. "Let's practice...tomorrow, okay? I can teach you how to move things."

"Okay." She buries her face in her knees, and after hearing what sounds suspiciously like a sob, he turns back to his homework, figuring that she probably wants to be alone. After a while the noises die down, and he hears her shifting around. When he glances over, she is lying on the bed, her face rather pink and her eyelids squeezed shut. She smells salty. _Definite_ t_ears._

He feels bad.

"You want me to go punch Quire for you?" he asks.

Her eyes open. "Huh?"

"I want to make you feel better."

She sits up, her eyes narrowing to slits. "Are you on crack?"

Julian thinks. "I guess you seem very pitiful right now," he says, after a moment of consideration. "Besides...his hair bugs me. Walking around with a pink mohawk? Dude is _asking _for it."

"He'll sthop you before you can reach him."

"Not if we catch him while he's sleeping." Julian pauses. "Which happens regularly every study session in the library, if you've noticed."

Laura nods slowly, thinking.

"And _that_ happens in about thirty minutes," he adds, looking at the clock. "I think it's Drake leading it tonight...he'll totally look the other way."

"Okay." Laura gets to her feet.

**...**

_**6:00 PM  
>The Library<strong>_

"I think he just nodded off," Julian whispers. "I can hear him breathing regularly...at least I'm betting it's him, since no one else I know bothers to go to a group to _sleep._"

Laura peers around the corner. They have been hiding in the kitchen for a while, because if they approach Quire while he is awake he'll put them in mental lockdown. She had told Julian how to listen for the other boy-he breathes almost twice as fast as anyone else, and his heart beats four times to a normal person's one as his brain needs faster blood flow than usual.

"Let's go." He creeps out into the hallway, and Laura follows, wondering just what the hell she is doing. Tagging along with her sworn enemy to go beat up another student. One of Julian's bully squad, which - come to think of it - she hasn't seen around since they'd had their power switch. She grimaces.

She stops at the doorway of the library and watches Julian as he moves closer to the easy chair that Quire is lounging in, his head rolled back on the cushion and mouth held slightly open in a manner of silent snoring. Her eyes move to Drake in the corner, who has a laptop running, and a set of earphones on. At this angle, she can see his screen - he's watching youtube videos.

Julian hauls his fist back, and she prepares to run.

_**CRUNCH!**_

_**"WHAT THE FUBCK?!"**_

Laura bolts, her boots squeaking on the floor as she pumps her legs as fast as they will go. She doesn't need to be present for the aftermath - she's already had the treat of watching Quire get his glasses broken - and from the sound of the impact, his nose.

She hears yelling behind her, and doesn't stop running till she reaches the safety of the room she is staying in. Slamming the door in her wake, she leans against it, and grins to herself in satisfaction.

Her tongue may be killing her, but she's willing to bet Quire's face hurts a hell of a lot more.

**...**

_**8:00 PM  
>Julian's (and Laura's temporary) room<strong>_

Two hours later, the door opens again, and Laura looks up from her book to see Julian slipping into the room, a grin plastered on his face, and blood splattered all over his shirt.

"Whath happenth?" she asks, surprised.

"He called his little punk-gang," Julian says, sounding pleased. "He forgot I have your healing factor now. Me and Drake fucking _wasted_ those shits."

Laura blinks. "I thougth Drake ith a theacher?"

"Yeah, well...I think the line gets fuzzy around Quire, doesn't it?" He pulls off his checkered over shirt and throws it at the hamper. "I was surprised that Quire didn't use his _brain_ that much. Stupid fucker didn't even stop me when I grabbed him by the hair and ran his face through a whole shelf of books."

"Thath one of my powerth," Laura says. "When figthing, I become almotht immune to pthychic athackth."

Julian's grin widens. "That's _awesome._"

"Yeah. I want it back."

"When I'm done with it." He removes his under shirt and throws that in the hamper, too, then moves over to the closet and begins to move the hangers as he chooses a new top to wear. Laura studies his back, watching his shoulder muscles flexing with each shift of his arm. Then she feels angry with herself, and picks up her book again.

**...**

_**12:05 PM  
>The Cafeteria<strong>_

"Why are you sitting over here?"

Laura looks up at the sound of her friend's voice. Sofia looks very confused, her forehead wrinkled.

"Nori's...mad at me," she says, feeling as if this is an understatement. Her tongue still hurts, but her lisp is gone today, and for that she is grateful.

The other girl slips onto the bench opposite Laura. "Tell me about it. Perhaps I can fix it."

"I'm sorry...you can't." She hesitates. "Thanks, though."

Sofia frowns. "You can tell me _anything._"

"Not this." She closes her eyes. "Part of it involves me and Keller switching powers...I assume you heard all about that?"

"Mhmm." Sofia looks amused. "How does it feel to have telekinesis?"

"Awkward and maddening," Laura says. "Maybe that's why he's always so pissed off. The damn power only shows up when I'm angry, so it can cause trouble."

Her friend smiles. "Like it's owner. Do you have any idea when things will...?"

"Whenever Logan helps us get in touch with Hope," Laura says. "I doubt we'll get her to help us without the pressure of one of the more grown-up X-men. Namely Cyclops...and something tells me he'll be on Logan's side of the issue."

"Which is?" Sofia asks.

"That we should master our new powers first," she replies, in a flat tone. "It's some sort of bullshit aimed at making us become friends. Logan should write Disney movies."

Sofia giggles, and then turns her head, her amused look fading. Laura looks up as well, seeing that Julian is approaching her table with a tray. She scowls at him.

"Are you out of your _mind?_" she asks.

"Nope." He sets his tray down at the table and sits down beside Sofia, grinning. "So how's it going, ladies?"

"Really bad, now that you're here," Laura comments. "It went from sunny skies to raining shit almost instantly. Go sit with your idiot-friends."

"Huh? Oh, _them._" Julian looks over at the table where Glob Herman and a few others are seated with Quire, who is wearing a bandage over his beaky nose and looking sulky. "I dumped them a few days ago. Someone with Wolverine's powers is just way too cool to sit with those losers."

Laura fixes him with a level glare. "Go. _Away._"

"No." He grins. "So, what's up with everyone? What's the conversation?"

"I was just complaining about how lame telekinesis is," she replies. "And we discussed you being an irritated cunt." _**  
><strong>_  
>"Yeah, I know," he says. "I heard you when I was getting my tray filled." He pauses. "Laura, you should really learn some manners. It's not nice to talk behind people's backs like that."<p>

"I say it to your face all the time," she says.

"Please-" Sofia holds up her hands. "I do not want you to fight. I will go, and then you can eat in peace, Laura."

"No, I think Keller should go so I can eat in peace," Laura replies.

"I think you should go so I can talk to Sofia here in peace," Julian retorts.

Sofia gets to her feet. "I will see you later, Laura," she says, then returns to her original table.

Laura throws down her fork. "Thanks _a lot, _Keller. Now neither of us can talk to her."

"I thought you would come around. We made a deal and everything."

"I didn't say you could hang out with me!" she snaps.

Julian is about to reply, when a grayish-white fist bangs down on the table, causing all the plates to rise for a moment. They both jump in surprise and look up.

_**"WHY DON'T YOU LIKE ME?!" **_the owner of the fist roars at Laura. Kid Gladiator.

A moment passes, in which they both stare at the newcomer.

"Where do I _start?_" Laura asks finally, her nose wrinkling.

"I'm an imperial _prince!_" Kid Gladiator sputters. "I come from a line of _galactic royalty! _You're lucky I bothered to grace this dead rock with my presence!"

"As I hear it, you were sent here for fucking up," Julian comments.

_**"DON'T SPEAK UNLESS SPOKEN TO!" **_the other boy snaps.

"Are you on meth or something?" Laura asks.

Kid Gladiator pounds his fist on the table again, this time causing it to creak. "I should smash your face in to demonstrate my superiority! My name is Kubark."

"Shall I leave you two alone?" Julian asks, grinning.

Laura glares at him. "Leave _now_, and I will _nail _your ass to the school weathervane."

"Why don't you like me?!" Kubark demands again.

She thinks for a few seconds. "You have - hands-down - _the _most rotten personality in this school. You're dumb as a sack of rocks. And you look and smell vaguely like a decomposing body." Laura smiles sweetly. "To start with."

_**"GRRRRAHH!" **_Kubark upends the table with one fist, and they both slide off of their seats. Julian recovers first. "Shit - you went and pissed him off," he mumbles. "Doesn't he have powers like Superman or someth-"

_**"I WILL PUNISH YOU FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!" **_Kid Gladiator roars, lunging at Laura.

_**"AHHHG!" **_she shrieks, barely rolling out of the way in time. She scrambles to her feet and begins to run as fast as her feet will carry her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Julian shouts at the rampaging alien. "You don't beat up a _girl!" _He reaches out with his hand, then rolls his eyes, realizing nothing is going to happen. He makes fists instead- _**SNIKT! **_-and pounces at her attacker. A moment later, he is swept backward through the air by a blow that makes the windows rattle. He hits the wall opposite and slides down, his face turning blue and his ribs clicking as they reconstruct. His lungs re-grow a moment later and he gasps for air.

"Play keep-away!" he shouts, as Laura passes him, a look of sheer terror in her eyes.

"Wha- **_how?!_**" She dodges in between a row of tables, while Kid Gladiator accidentally goes straight.

"Channel it with your hand! Think about punting a football! _**DO IT!" **_Julian orders.

"I'll make you my _concubine, _you stupid harlot!" Kubark taunts.

_**VRRRRRRMMMM!**_

_**TINKLE!**_

For the second time in a week, the enormous bay window of the cafeteria shatters into a million tiny pieces as Kid Gladiator is shot backwards like a bullet, followed by a smoking green trail. There is a loud _**CRACK! **_as he flies through a tree several yards away. The tree groans, and leans to the side.

"Oh my _**GOD!" **_Laura squeaks, her eyes returning to their normal color. "Keller - I just broke the huge _Oak _tree outside! It's-"

Julian doesn't need to hear the end of her sentence; he can hear the trunk coming for them. He lunges forward and pushes her out of the way just as it smashes through the roof and settles in the area that she had just been standing.

There is a cloud of debris, and many dish fragments settling in the area around them. He pushes himself up and examines her carefully, his eyes wide. "You okay?" he wheezes.

She nods jerkily, her eyes also wide and her heart pounding a million miles a minute. She is even _more _frightened at the thought of what could have happened, since she doesn't have a healing factor anymore. Julian is looking up toward the window now, alert to something she can't hear.

"He's coming back. We need to find Wolverine, _now_. And you really need to learn how to shield yourself." He pushes himself to his feet and helps her up.

They run to the doors just as Kid Gladiator reaches the demolished Cafeteria again.

_**"I UNDERESTIMATED YOU-BUT NEVER AGAIN!" **_he bellows as they slip through entrance and run up the hallway.

**...**

_**12:15 PM  
>The Headmaster's Office<strong>_

Laura bursts through the doors very suddenly, making Logan jump and drop the stack of papers he's holding. "Jesus!" he barks.

"Kid-Gladiator-went-berserk!" she pants. "Demolished-the whole-cafeteria...on-his way-up here-now!"

Julian slams the doors open. "He's _right_ behind us!"

A second later, the doors fly apart again, and remain so this time, the hinges busted.

_**"EVERYONE STOP IT!" **_Logan roars.

Kid Gladiator glares at the Headmaster. "But - they insulted me! That little wench of a-"

"Is my daughter, so you better apologize right quick and write to your father for money to rebuild the cafeteria you destroyed."

"I had nothing to do with the destruction of school property!" Kubark shouts. "She sent me flying through a window and a tree. For that, she must _die._"

Logan looks at Laura expectantly.

"He was trying to kill the shit out of me!" she says, her voice still abnormally high-pitched.

The headmaster looks back at Kid Gladiator. "Don't smell a lie, so I'm going to trust Laura here and assume you had _plenty _to do with it."

The ground rumbles angrily.

"Uhh-" Julian says, apprehensively. "Does anyone else hear-"

"Great, you went and pissed off Krakoa now." Logan rubs his face with his hand. "Who the _hell_ touched the Oak tree?"

"Umm..." Laura says.

"That's his favorite. He's probably going to swallow the _school _now." He glares at his students. "Detention for _everyone. _Now someone go get Quire so he can calm Krakoa down."

"Umm-" Julian says, this time. "He's kind of pissed off at us right now."

Logan turns his unimpressed gaze to the boy. "What?" he asks sharply.

"Keller broke his nose last night," Laura explains. "There was a big fight and some feelings - and maybe some bones - got hurt-"

"For the love of God." Logan's eye twitches. "Everyone sit down and stay put. If one thing is misplaced when you get back, I'll kill _all_ of you." He marches to the doors and is gone.

Laura and Julian trade glances, then look at Kid Gladiator.

"He could not kill me," he boasts.

"Well, I have a healing factor now, too," Julian says. "That leaves-"

"Shut the fuck up, Keller." Laura heads over to the chair behind the desk and sinks down. "I hate my life, so badly. I can't handle this school anymore. Soon as I get my powers back, I'm taking off."

"I will accompany you!" Kid Gladiator announces.

"Aww, Laura has a boyfwend," Julian says, grinning.

She closes her eyes. "I _seriously_ hate you two. And I have a headache."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Response to RecklessBaka: **Yeah, I know Quire thinks 'ten billion brilliant thoughts per second'. At the same time, he is prone to poor judgement, overconfidence, and while he has been shown to be able to mess with Wolverine's mind twice, in the miniseries where he does the weird simulation thing he screws up by getting Wolverine into his 'berserker mode' and is unable to do any further psychic tampering. And I really want to see someone kick his ass. So for the purposes of this story I decided to tweak that a little and say that one of Laura's powers is psychic immunity when she gets into a real fighting state, kind of a facility thing.

Answer to Q1: They might. I'm having fun having Julian & Laura interact with some of the WatXM central kids (especially because almost every other story I do has Cessily & Santo in it). I do address them being Julian's friends later, though.

Answer to Q2: OMG! You gave me a great idea for THIS story. Mwahahaha. Thanks, you're a genius! XD

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>8:53 PM<br>Julian's (and Laura's) temporary room**_

"_Oh _my god," Laura says later, as she shuffles into the room, her head hanging. She's covered in minute cuts, scrapes and bruises, and there is blood and dirt caked all over her skin and torn clothes.

Julian is behind her, and he shuts the door quietly. He is in a similar state, minus the injuries. He also looks slightly less dejected.

"I am going to sleep for a year." Laura reaches the bed, then pauses. "Clean. Right." She changes direction to the bathroom and heads in, flicking on the light switch in an irritable manner. She turns around to close the door, but Julian has followed her and is leaning on the door frame, eyeing her up and down. "I could use a shower, too," he says, his tone suggestive.

"Wait your turn, then," she replies.

"I've been good these past few days!" he protests. "I saved your ass _twice. _Three times, if you count Quire. And I _pulverized_ him. For you."

"That's great. Wait your turn."

"You could look at it as motivation," he says. "To be good."

"What is your _damage?!" _she snaps at him. "I'm filthy and tired from fighting plant-monsters and mentally challenged aliens!"

"All the fighting got me worked up," he says.

"Well, you have a pair of hands now, don't you?" She arches her eyebrows.

"Come on." He pauses. "I'll do anything you want."

Laura considers this carefully, and realizes this is an excellent way to relieve her aching body. If she words it carefully, she can get away without making payment. "I shower first...and then a back rub. For twenty minutes. _Before _we do...that."

"Done." He slides into the bathroom. Laura gazes blandly at the three feet of green mold sticking straight up and out of the toilet. "I have to pee," she says.

"Here." He takes a hold of her arm and points it at the mess. "Picture clearing it out with a weed wacker."

Laura closes her eyes, and tries to do as told.

_**VRRRM!**_

_**SMASH!**_

"Oh—_wow_!" Julian pulls her back in alarm as a jet of flame erupts from the stub of porcelain that has remained on the floor. "That was—"

Laura lets out a dry sob.

"Shit, _shit,_" he says. He skirts the flames, jumps into the shower and turns it on, then switches it to the shower attachment and puts out the inferno. "God—why would _anyone _put a flamethrower in a _toilet?" _

She doesn't answer, too busy having a breakdown as she slides down the wall of the bathroom, her face contorted and hair a mess.

"Hey - don't," he says in an awkward tone. "It's just a toilet...they can fix it."

_**"I HATE MY LIFE!" **_Laura wails, as if she hasn't heard him. _**"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! I WANT MY POWERS BACK!"**_

"Calm down!" he says, picking his way through the shattered remnants of porcelain, then kneeling beside her in a small clear area. "Pull yourself together."

_**"I WANT TO DIE!" **_she screeches, pulling at her hair.

_**"SHUT UP!" **_Julian snaps, his patience wearing thin. He hates the sound of crying, especially crying females...and _very especially _the combination of crying Laura.

She blinks.

"Dude, seriously, pull yourself together. It was _just _a toilet fire." He pauses. "I'll call Professor McCoy and get him to fix it. In the meantime...there are other washrooms, you know."

Laura sniffles and wipes her nose on her sleeve. "O-okay."

"Okay," he says, relieved. "Good. Okay. Let's get going with that."

**...**

_**9:02 PM  
>The Hallway<strong>_

"You have got to be kidding me." Laura is staring at the door to the men's room, her nose wrinkled. "I am not going in there, repeat, _not—_"

"Seeing as Krakoa destroyed your other options...I don't see that you've got much choice," Julian replies calmly. "Come on. Just get it over with."

She shudders. "I don't fancy being eaten alive by germs, thanks."

"If you applied any though to that concept at _all, _you would realize there's actually going to be _less_ germs in there."

"Thought isn't a part of my repulsion. It's my instincts protecting me."

He rolls his eyes and before she can protest shoves her roughly through the push-door. She stumbles into the bathroom and catches herself on the first piece of furniture available.

Except it isn't a piece of furniture.

_**"AAIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" **_comes Laura's shriek from the bathroom, but Julian is now otherwise occupied: Quentin Quire is approaching, his gang in tow. Thanks to Laura's hearing, he can decipher _exactly _what they are saying.

He smirks. This is going to be _good._

"Hey, QQ."

The conversation dies immediately, and all eyes turn to him. Especially Quire's angry hazel ones, which look small in comparison to his heavily bandaged nose. The boy's lip curls in dislike.

"I just wanted to say...I'm sorry about the other day," Julian says, folding his arms.

Silence. Quire's eyes narrow.

"Coz it's _wrong_ for me to beat on girls, and all that." He grins. "By the way, to answer the question you guys were debating...no. Boobs _don't _feel like sandbags."

The washroom door opens in the background, and Laura steps out.

"You think you're better than me?!" Quire demands. "You're pathetic, Keller! You shouldn't even _be_ at this school anymore. You weren't even cool back in the day."

Laura arches her eyebrows. "Normally I'd agree...but I don't think you're qualified to be talking about who's _cool, _you know? I find it hard to take you seriously when you look like one of the troll kids." Her eyes rivet to his pink mohawk.

"You're just upset you got such a bad lot in life as to be Wolverine's clone," Quire retorts. "I mean, you could've been _anyone's _clone—even _mine. _But...really..._Wolverine? _And a _girl?_" He sneers.

"Oh good," Julian says, giving her a sidelong glance full of amusement and a sort of invitation. "They gave me an excuse to beat them up again."

Laura considers this, then shrugs. _What have they got to lose? _

The first punch is thrown by Julian, who smashes his fist into Quire's nose again. The other boy roars and swings blindly. Laura dodges a kick he throws and leaps at Glob Herman, figuring she should take him out first. It's only when she's in midair that she realizes she has nothing _to _take him out with.

"Oh, _crap!_" she yelps. Glob Herman meets her with a punch that sends her down the hallway, her eyes rolling up in her head.

**...**

_**10:15 PM  
>Julian's (and Laura's Temporary) Room<strong>_

Laura opens her eyes slowly, and comes face-to-face with a concerned looking Julian.

"Hi," he says. His eyebrows are drawn together.

"...hi..." she says, uncertainly.

He holds up his hand and makes a fist, leaving his index and thumb straight. "Count my fingers."

"Nonexistent, if you hadn't stolen my powers," Laura hisses.

Julian rolls his eyes. "Fine, you don't have a concussion."

She moves her head slightly and sees that they are back in his room, and that she is lying on the bed with him kneeling beside her. "How did I get here?" she asks, her nose wrinkled.

"I carried you," he says.

Laura looks alarmed. "How long was I out?"

He shrugs. "Dunno. I was busy mowing them down." He grins. "You should really fight more, with your powers...it's _awesome._"

"I like being tolerable, Keller." She sits up, and the room spins, so she crashes back down. "Oh my _god,_" she gasps.

"Yeah, you probably shouldn't have jumped on Herman like that," Julian says, raising his eyebrows. "If I tried that without your powers...damn. He had you flying like a rag doll."

Laura rubs her temples and glares at him.

"I gave Quire an atomic wedgie in your honor," he offers. " Stupid fuck wears briefs. I literally pulled them over his head."

"Spare me." She sits up again-more slowly this time-and the room doesn't spin.

"I thought you hated him."

"I'm not into behaving like a preschooler." She swings her legs over the edge of the bed.

Julian leans back and watches her stand up. "Why'd you fight with _me_ so much, then?"

"Because the situation called for it." She heads for the exit. "I don't fight just for the _sake_ of fighting."

"Where are you going?" he asks.

"To ease the pain of this day by getting drunk." She opens the door.

"You're under aged though," he says.

Laura gives him a withering look. "Says the boy with a fake ID."

He grins. "Okay, fine...you got me. Wait a minute - how do you know about that?"

She rolls her eyes. "From the fact that I've seen you drunk before."

He thinks about this for a moment. "I could use a drink, too," he says. "Where you getting it from?"

"Forget it." Laura's eyes narrow. "We're not on good enough terms to be _drinking _buddies, Keller. If I consumed alcohol in your presence, I might make an attempt on your life."

"Go ahead," he says, looking smug. "Try. I'm basically invincible right now."

"I could still drown you," she points out. "Or cut off your head and burn it. Those are two ways to do healing factors in."

Julian grins. "Come on. Don't be such a bitch. Bring your bounty here and we can celebrate me shaving off Quire's mohawk."

Laura's eyes bug out. "What—_REALLY?!_"

He nods.

A pause.

"What do you want?" she asks, uncertainly. "Spirits or beer?"

"Why choose?" he counters.

Laura considers this. "Damn it. Just when I was convinced we could never have the same viewpoint on anything." She stomps out and slams the door behind her.

**...**

_**10:37 PM  
>The Wine Cellar<strong>_

Laura is in booze paradise, a section of the school known to very few staff-members and even fewer students. It's kept heavily locked, with alarms triggered the moment someone even _thinks_ about breaking in through the Adamantium door.

Unless—of course—they know the security code. Which Laura _does, _thanks to having been nearby while Mr. LeBeau had opened the door...once. She is trained to be able to detect a number sequence by sound. It had been a mere matter of hiding herself around a corner two hallways down, and perking her ears for the noises of his joints as he pressed the buttons, and the corresponding beeps of the keypad.

Tonight—after carefully looking both ways down the hall—she had slipped up to the keypad, entered the code, and entered the wine cellar with haste—being careful to pull the door shut behind her. She is now examining the selection with a wondrous gaze.

There's just _so much _to choose from—shelves and shelves full of different varieties of alcohol. The school has about as much booze as a liquor store. She feels momentarily thankful that Logan is now the headmaster, and that he had had the good sense to turn what had been a boring storage room in the old model of the school into her version of paradise. At the same time, however, the sheer variety is overwhelming, and she finds the whole affair taking longer than she'd anticipated. She can't see beer, either; that must be kept in a separate area.

The door suddenly opens, and she almost drops the two bottles of whiskey she'd been holding. She'd been completely zoned out, having forgotten that she can no longer rely on her super-sensitive hearing to alert her of approaching persons. To her relief, however, it's only Julian. Her eyebrows draw together. "What are you doing here?" she demands.

"Decided I wanted a say," he says as he steps into the booze gallery.

"Shut the door!" she hisses. "How the _hell_ did you figure out the door code?"

"Probably the same way you did," he says as he pushes the large round door shut behind him. "I watched you enter the code on the keypad."

"You _followed_ me?" she asks, disturbed. She hadn't heard a thing. He grins, reaches out and takes one of the bottles she's holding. "Maker's Mark. I haven't tried that yet."

"What _have_ you tried?" she asks.

"Tequila," he says confidently. "And lots of vodka...and...uh...yeah. Lots of stuff."

Laura rolls her eyes. "So you're a virgin in more ways than one," she says. "Give me that. We'll need a larger variety to break you in."

"I like the sound of that," he says. She looks at him and sees that he's being suggestive. Rolling her eyes again, she shoves the two bottles toward him. "Hold these. We need to find some rum, too. And I wouldn't say no to some wine—a couple reds—and—"

Julian's eyes widen. "Someone's coming!" he exclaims.

Laura looks around in panic, then grabs his arm and pulls him around the corner, into the next row. She hopes desperately that it's not Logan, since he'll detect them right away. Or Professor McCoy, for that matter. They peer through the shelves at the door as it begins to open, their hearts pounding equally hard.

To their mutual relief, it's Mr. LeBeau. He steps into the cellar, casts a look around…then reaches back out, to help someone else in. A woman that Laura recognizes only in passing: Frenzy.

"This alone enough for you?" Mr. LeBeau asks, his voice low.

Frenzy arches an eyebrow. "Depend on what you have in mind."

"Don't know," he replies. "Thought we could see where it goes. Like you said…we both did more in the day, an' gave it less thought."

Behind the shelves, Laura gives her companion a withering glance. He shifts slightly, realizing too what they're about to play the part of unwilling witnesses to.

"Don't you dare look," Laura mouths sternly.

**…**

About an hour later, the door finally closes again.

Laura's first reaction is to crack open the bottle of tequila she's been clutching and take a long, hard swig.

"Damn," Julian says, his voice a little hoarse.

She hands him the bottle. "I guess we know why he's the sex ed teacher now," she says flatly.

"I seriously want to know just _what_ he was doing," he replies, his forehead wrinkled. "I mean—I haven't even heard screaming like that in porn—and I've seen _a lot_ of it."

"I'll just bet you have," Laura says snidely.

He rolls his eyes. "Fuck off," he says, then takes a swig from the bottle—and promptly begins to choke.

Laura grins and takes it back from him. "Knew it."

After a few moments he wipes his mouth on the back of his sleeve, shaking his head. "_Kaff—_god, that stuff's like paint thinner with jalapeño peppers in it," he says, his voice even hoarser.

"I could drink this stuff like water," she scoffs.

"You have strange tastes."

"Yours are even stranger." She hugs the bottles tightly to her chest. "I suggest we straighten out the shelves a bit…erase our tracks…then make a break for….for the room. Before anything else happens."

"Agreed," he says seriously.

**…**

_**10: 46 PM  
>Julian's (and Laura's Temporary) Room<strong>_

Surprisingly, they make it back to his room without further incident. Laura immediately proceeds to find hiding places for their liquor bottles around the room. If they are careful, they can get away with this—and maybe their time spent in forced proximity to each other won't be so bad. She's a _lot_ less irritable when she is drunk. Hopefully, Keller will become less of a douche…and not _more_ of one.

"Let's start with the wine," Laura says, holding up the bottle of Merlot she'd selected. "Don't want you to get sick on me."

"Whatever," he says, plopping down on the bed. "Pass it over, Kinney."

They take turns trading the bottle over the next few minutes, both in mildly traumatized silence as they reflect over what they'd seen earlier.

"I think I might drop out of Mr. LeBeau's class," Laura says, after a while. "There's just no unseeing that shit, you know? And—really—_Frenzy? _I was convinced she was a lesbian."

"Huh, me too," Julian says. "Never pictured her making those sounds."

"_Urrrgh!" _She shakes her head. "Don't remind me."

He looks up at her. "You can sit down, you know."

"I know." She glares at him. "I'm not getting near you."

Julian rolls his eyes. "I'm not going to try anything, I swear."

"On a bible?" Laura prompts.

"Those pieces of crap are only good for stabilizing wobbly tables," he says with a sneer.

She wrinkles her nose. "Damn it."

"What?" he asks.

"I'm starting to think you're not all that bad," she says, swaying a little. "And, it's been like, the central dogma of my life at this school."

"I see." He arches his eyebrows, watches as she uncaps the wine and takes another long and huge swig—four swallows, he counts, by the movements of her throat. Five. He finds himself admiring the contours of her neck, and a thought suddenly strikes him. She doesn't have a healing factor anymore…and he does.

He almost sits up straight. Laura's going to get drunk at the rate she's going—_really_ drunk. And quite possibly very easily swayed. Maybe only a little nudge in the right direction and this could turn out to be a really good night for him. Which he _really_ needs, after being forced to watch live porn earlier. And it's not like it's _wrong, _since she basically agreed to it already. He forces himself to relax. _Wait. Let her have more. _

She sits down on the edge of the bed and passes the bottle to him again. "Have at it," she says.

He complies, but is quick in returning it to her. "Maybe we should switch to Tequila," he suggests.

Laura looks at him, her eyes wide. "You're a _genius!_" she exclaims.

**…**

_**11: 35 PM  
>Julian's (and Laura's Temporary) Room<strong>_

Laura has progressively gotten drunker and drunker. She's started to talk—really talk—chatter, almost—about funny things from her past. They don't really make sense, especially because she begins laughing in the middle of sentences and then he can't tell what she's trying to say. She makes wild gestures, almost dropping the bottle at several points.

He waits until she takes a long drink again to speak. "You know…I peaked…earlier…and I _saw_ what he was doing to her."

"Huh?" Laura asks, giving him a wide-eyed look. "Whaddaya talking about?"

"You know. The wine cellar." He pauses, his mouth slightly dry. "I could make you feel like that."

Laura stares at him for a moment, then bursts into what seems like a cascade of giggles. "Are you _serious? _Oh my god…you _are. _That's like…_the _worst attempt at…at a come-on ever. Like…it's almost cute that you thought…that would work."

He feels a surge of anger—accompanied with a bit of hurt. He looks down, his cheeks burning. "Forget it."

"I'll try," she says, giggling again and holding out the bottle. "Here. Tequila fixes all wounds."

"Don't want it."

"Missing out." She takes another swig, then nods, wiping her chin on the back of her hand, which is holding the bottle. "But we should totally do it. It's a capital idea."

"What?" he asks, surprised.

"Let's go," she says, capping the bottle—which is a bit more than half full—and tossing it on the bed, then reaching for the hem of her shirt. "Sex me up."

Julian gives her an uncertain look. He realizes that he'd never actually expected her to go along with the idea, which is why his attempt had been so lame. Now that she's said yes, he feels like he's doing something morally wrong. Even though it had been part of their deal before. He hesitates. He usually doesn't choose morals over personal pleasure, but he senses that if he _does_ pursue this, he'll lose the alliance they've been slowly forming.

"On second thought…it's kind of late," he says.

"So?" She tosses her shirt at him, and he is blasted by a light wave of her scent—and another, even more intoxicating aroma. He doesn't know what it is, but it makes him want to rip the rest of her clothes off. He shakes his head slightly and pushes the garment away, trying not to look at her. "Laura…not like this," he says.

"Like this?" she prompts.

"You're drunk and…I'm not," he admits. "I've barely got a buzz going."

"Sucks, don't it?" She grins at him. "Me, on the other hand…I _love_ this. I'm drunk and I didn't have to drink the entire bar dry!" She twists around and crawls toward him, a more serious expression on her face. "No, it ab'slutely _has_ to be like this, if…if it happens."

"If?" he asks. "I thought we agreed—"

"I wasn't going to pay up," she says, grinning again.

Julian closes his eyes, feeling stupid. Of course she wasn't. Why had he ever actually believed her? He shakes his head, at himself.

"Oh c'mon," she says, taking this as another rejection. She reaches out and cups his chin with her fingers, and he looks at her again. He's tempted to take advantage of the situation—very tempted—given what he's just found out—but he also feels that nagging sense of _wrong. _"No," he says. "We should get some sleep." He reaches out, picks up her shirt and hands it to her.

Laura squints at him. "Are you clinically insane?" she asks.

"No," he says. "You don't want it, not really. It's just the booze talking if you think you do." He frowns slightly. "I don't want you to do something you'll regret."

She looks at the shirt, then snatches it and begins to put it back on, mumbling something to herself. When she finishes it she gets off the bed and stomps toward the room door. He launches off the bed and catches her wrist as she reaches for the knob. "What the hell are you doing?!" he asks.

"Goin' fer a walk," she says, swaying slightly.

"Are you kidding me? You're about to topple over. You _can't_ leave this room. You'll get us both caught."

She turns away from him and makes an odd, high-pitched noise. He realizes she's crying, and his eyebrows shoot straight up. "Laura?" he asks uncertainly. In the years that he's known her, he had formed the assumption that she was incapable of tears. And now...twice in the same day. Except these aren't tears of frustration. He doesn't know what they are. This past week has been very confusing.

"You don't want me!" Laura blurts, her teeth gritted. "You want…whatsherface."

Julian stares at her back, not sure what to say.

"_No one_ wants _me!_" she continues. "I jus' get used an' used…an' used…till I'm all dried up." She moves over to the bed and flings herself onto it, face-down, her head buried in her arms.

"Who used you?" he asks.

"_Ever'one!" _she moans. _"…makers…mom…shit, when I did that…" _

He hesitates. "Did what?"

Laura looks up at him. "Sold myself for money," she says bitterly. "Figured…I was already a killing machine…why not? Jus' another kind of machine." She looks down again. "I'm jus' not good enough."

He buries his fingers in his hair and says nothing, overwhelmed. He'd never pictured that Laura would get offended, or that she would be a depressed drunk, or that she would spill secrets like _this_. He doesn't know what to do. Should he just leave and let her work this out alone? They aren't even friends. If she remembers this when she sobers up, she'll probably be furious. But she looks so pathetic right now, with tear-streaked cheeks and a trembling lower lip. He realizes he can't just walk away, so instead he moves to the bed and sits down on the edge. "Come here," he says, scooping her up to lean against his shoulder. She's limp like a ragdoll—and he's gotten much stronger lately—so it's pretty easy to do. "Life's hard, but it'll work out."

"No it won't," she says stubbornly.

Julian rubs her shoulder, which he is still holding. "Yeah, it will. You're not a machine."

She looks up at him miserably. "How do you know?"

"I'm kind of you right now, remember?" he asks.

Laura hesitates, then nods slightly.

"To be honest, I've never felt so alive," he says.

"That doesn't say anything 'bout me," she says, in a small voice.

"I don't know much about you," he reminds her. "We're usually trying to kill each other, remember?" He pauses. "You are a worthy foe, I'll give you that."

Laura smiles slightly and looks down again, hair falling into her face.

"And…I think you're really hot," he admits, reaching out and brushing it behind her ear. "I never said…that I don't want you…but…how am I supposed to feel about you when we're enemies?"

She hesitates. "We're not really enemies," she whispers, as if it's an earth-shattering secret.

Julian shrugs slightly. "Not right now."

"No…" she looks at him. "I don't…hate you anymore."

"Oh." He thinks. "I guess I don't hate you either. But…"

"I know, I know." She closes her eyes. "You an'…Sofa."

"Sofia."

"Whatever."

"She's _your_ friend."

Laura gives him a dry look.

"I can't help it," he says. "I've always liked her. I feel like…she could be the one, you know?"

"You're…eighteen," she says. "Lil' early fer that."

"Almost twenty," he corrects her. "In two months."

Laura's eyes bulge. "Where'd a whole year go?!" she asks, in a panicked fashion.

"You went away for a while, remember?" he asks, rubbing her shoulder again with his thumb. "My life didn't just _stop._"

"Oh." She closes her eyes. "I'm tired," she says.

Julian leans over and kisses her forehead. "Let's get some sleep then."

She looks at him again. "Hold me?"

He hesitates. "Will you kill me in the morning?"

Laura shrugs, grins. "You'll heal."

"What a relief," he says flatly.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews! BlackFriday- yes, this is AU, a detailed description is in the header of Chapter 1. Most of my stories are slightly AU, unless I explicitly state that it's "616 canon" which means the actual Marvel verse. I mostly find it too disgusting to work with, but I borrow plot ideas from it. :) 

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<br>**

* * *

><p><em><strong>6: 27 AM<br>Julian's (and Laura's Temporary) Room**_

Laura wakes up slowly, to rays of sunlight gently bathing her face through the shutters. She becomes aware of the fact that an arm is tightly wrapped around her waist—and of who the arm belongs to. Her eyes widen, but then she realizes they are both wearing last night's clothes.

She frowns slightly, trying to recall what had happened. She didn't black out, but senses that she had come close. Apparently—like caffeine—alcohol is _much _more effective on her body sans-healing-factor. All she has is a foggy recollection of Julian turning her down, and a sense that she'd told him more than she meant to about herself. She feels vaguely embarrassed.

With slow, careful movements, she extracts herself from under his arm and heads for the bathroom—then stops, remembering that it needs to be repaired. Annoyed, she moves to the door and exits the room, intending to use the men's room like the other night.

Upon opening the door, however, she feels immediate regret, and an almost tangible longing for her enhanced senses…because one of the urinals is in use, by none other than Kid Gladiator. She backs out as quickly as she can, feeling sheer terror. It's too late—he's turning around.

"Ah! My concubine!" he says, grinning.

"N-no," she says, bumping up against the door. This time she's all alone, and she won't know what to do without Julian here to direct her. Kubark begins his approach, as her hand scrambles for the doorknob. "I will put you in your place, wench," he declares, his tone more serious. "The insolence you two have shown me would earn you the _death penalty _in my kingdom."

"Leave me alone!" Laura snaps, finding the knob and twisting it. She tumbles out of the washroom backwards and falls, just as her opponent lunges. There is a tearing noise as he takes the door, the frame and part of the walls with him. She scrambles to her feet and begins to run as fast as she can down the hallway, back toward the room.

"_**JULIAN!" **_she shrieks, meeting him just as he emerges. He is rumpled from sleep—and disorientated—but he takes one look at her panicked face, and grabs her arm. "I'll find Logan. _You_ need to fly."

"What—I _can't!_" she says, her voice high-pitched. "I can't even lift things yet!"

"Yes you can," he says, turning and pushing her into the room again—just as Kid Gladiator reaches the hallway. "I'll try to lead him off. He can fly too…but I'm faster. I mean, _you_ are." They reach the window and he throws it up. "Go for it."

"I—" Laura looks out, at the ground, and then back at him. "I can't do this. I don't _heal_ anymore, and—"

"Stop arguing!" he says, then grabs her by the leg and begins to shove her over the windowsill. She shrieks, flails, and then she's falling, headlong toward the ground. She realizes she could die in a few moments, if she doesn't catch herself in time. Gritting her teeth, she reaches out with her hand and pictures pushing herself up from against the ground.

_**VRRRM!  
><strong>_  
>The air around her explodes into what seems like green fire, and she hurtles through the air, now propelled by her own thoughts. The sensation is so exhilarating, so powerful that for a moment she can't breathe. She forgets she is being chased by a psychotic version of superman, she forgets the longing to heal and the feelings of inadequacy she has subconsciously been battling with; she just <em>is<em>. A smile spreads across her face, as she soars across the sky.

**…**

_**7: 23 AM  
>The Grounds of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning<strong>_

"_LAURA!" _

About an hour later, she happens to pass a little closer to the ground, and hears her name being shouted. She circles around and swoops in, toward Julian, who is waving his hands and craning his neck to look at her.

"_**WHAT?!" **_she shouts back, impatient to be up and away again.

"_Logan's taking care of it! You can come down now!"_

"_**DON'T WANT TO!" **_she replies, a grin spreading across her features. _**"THIS IS…THIS IS GREAT!"**_

Julian gazes up at her, and feels his bad mood dissipating. He has spent the last hour battling Kid Gladiator, and trying to get in touch with Wolverine. The man had the nerve to be out of the school—something about ordering a new Oak tree for Krakoa—and he'd been forced to deal with Kubark himself. At first he'd thought all was lost, since the other guy was determined to pursue Laura.

Then he'd had an idea, an idea to at least detain the alien until Logan returned. He wasn't sure where it had come from, but apparently it had been a stroke of pure genius. He had challenged Kid Gladiator to a duel—'for Laura'.

He could've sworn he had been paying the alien a compliment. Kubark was absolutely delighted, and had agreed right away—and had shaken his hand with bone-crunching pumps that made Julian wonder what the fuck he was getting himself into. But he knew that he couldn't let this psycho get near Laura—not until she knew how to use his powers better, at least—and so he and the imperial prince had headed down to the Danger Room.

Julian realized almost instantly that he didn't stand a chance at even scratching Kubark...and so he spent the next forty-five minutes getting smashed into steel surfaces and having just about every bone in his body broken repeatedly. There were points that he literally saw red. At the same time, however, he'd never surrendered, and Kubark was unable to claim having permanently wounded him—since he just kept getting back up. Then Logan had burst into the Danger Room in a spectacular fit of rage, directed almost solely at Kubark…because Julian had passed out about three minutes into the older mutant's hell-fire sermon. When he'd woken up again, Logan had informed him that he was 'in detention until further notice' and stormed out, dragging the nervous imperial prince by the scruff of the neck.

Julian had considered not checking on Laura, but in the end reminded himself that it wasn't her fault that the alien has become obsessed with her. Sure, she had started it…but Kubark _is _downright weird. He'd picked himself up, dusted off and made his way out to the front of the field…to find Laura zooming around in enormous green figure-eights. He'd watched her for a while before shouting, and now—watching her float in the air, her cheeks flushed, her smile wide and her hair like weightless ribbons around her—he realizes he doesn't regret any of it.

And that he's looking at her in the same way he looks at Sofia. He feels confused, and he takes a step back, as if that will defend him from this concept. He forgets that the fountain is behind him till he trips on the brick lip of the platform and falls—backward—into the water with a huge splash.

Laura sees this from the air and swoops down, mildly concerned. "You okay?"

"Fine," Julian says, pushing himself up and shaking his head slightly. "Spectacular. I hate today."

She lands on the edge of the fountain with surprising precision. "I see why you like telekinesis so much now," she says. "That was amazing."

Julian considers making a sarcastic retaliatory comment about healing factors and imperial fists shattering his nose, but thinks better of it. "You seem to be getting better with it."

"I guess." She grins. "It's easy to be good at things you like doing."

"Sure." He gets to his feet, shakes the water off his limbs and sighs. He should really change his clothes, but his stomach is crying out for food. "I'm starving…going to go find something to eat."

"Sounds good," Laura says. He hadn't really meant it as an invitation, but he finds that he doesn't mind the thought of eating with her. They head back up to the school.

**…**

_**7: 58 AM  
>Cafeteria<strong>_

"Here," Julian says, setting down a plate of pancakes in front of Laura. "I asked for waffles, but apparently the iron's broken. Something about a dare between Santo and Glob Herman."

"Let me guess…it involved their heads," Laura says flatly.

He shrugs. "Who the fuck cares?"

"Not me," she agrees, picking up her fork. "Thanks."

"Sure." He sits down on the other side of the table, to his plate of pancakes, and proceeds to load up his fork. She does the same. After a few moments he sneaks a glance across the table—and sees she is doing the same.

They look away immediately…only to see that Kid Gladiator is approaching their table. Laura drops her fork and scoots to the other end of the bench, panicking to get away; Julian tries to extract himself as well, in preparation to take the offensive.

Kubark folds his arms and looks toward Laura. _**"RELAX, **_harlot. Your fate has been decided, and it is not as my concubine."

She gapes at him. Julian looks down at the table, sensing that if he allows himself to laugh, whatever olive branch Kubark is trying to extend here will immediately be snapped. And right now-if at all possible-they _really_ don't need this guy on their case.

The Sh'iar prince points at Julian. "Your defender fought valiantly for possession of your loins. He didn't come close to beating me…not even a scratch…but I couldn't smash his face in, either. I don't believe you are worthy of a quest, seeing as you are inferior to the imperial concubines…so I'll concede your ownership to Hellion."

Laura continues to gape. Julian looks away slightly. _Don't laugh…don't laugh…_

"_**BUT**_," Kid Gladiator adds, leaning in closer to her. She leans backward, almost to the point of falling off her chair. "I am _not_ conceding defeat. Never will it be said that there is an opponent equal to my awesomeness!"

"O-okay," she stammers, her voice a squeaky whisper. "Please…all I want is my pancakes…"

Kubark looks at the table. "These strange round-foods? Is that what they have replaced the horrible crosshatch-foods with?"

"You mean the waffles?" Julian asks.

"Yes, the waffles, what a ridiculous name." Kubark reaches out and picks up a pancake, holds it between his index finger and thumb, then wrinkles his nose. "This looks positively repulsive. It's floppy and soft. And _moist. _What odd tastes you earthlings have." He lets the pancake drop with a _splat! _sound, then turns and walks swiftly away.

"I'm not hungry anymore," Laura says, her voice still a little high-pitched.

"Too bad for you." Julian begins to stuff his face. She gets up and carries her pancakes to the trash; he thinks she has left and feels mildly bad for her, but then she returns with a fresh plate. "I told them mine got contaminated by aliens, and they didn't ask questions," she explains.

"I see." He grins at her. "Well, looks like your 'loins' are safe from 'invasions' now, at least."

"Shut _up,_" she warns. Then she pauses. "Wait a minute. You and him had a _fight_ over me?"

"Kinda," he says, shrugging. "Well—he was going to go after you—so I kind of panicked and thought I'd try and slow him up till Logan got back…he was out tree shopping."

She stares at him. "What?" she asks.

"You know. A new oak tree for Krakoa. Apparently that's what Quire promised it." Julian shrugs again. "Seriously…don't stop and _question _all the weird shit that goes on around here. I used to and then I realized I was going to go insane…so now I'm just, like, 'whatever'…you know?"

"I guess." She begins to load up her fork, then stops, seeming to hesitate. She glances up at him again. "Thanks," she says. "For doing that."

"Don't mention it." He grins, and his eyes shift to the doorway of the cafeteria. "It'll all be worth it in the end."

She turns and sees that Sofia has just entered the room, and is heading toward the food line. She feels a slight drop in her spirits, remembering their deal…and the general feeling of being turned down by him last night. For the moment being, she'd forgotten all that. The moment had been him, her, and the pancakes, for which she was genuinely hungry for. It had been a nice moment, a moment she didn't particularly want to end. And there had been the thought of what he had just done for her, getting Kubark off her back. Permanently.

But evidently he wasn't feeling the moment. She sees that in the way his expression has changed upon seeing her friend. It's lighter, brighter…less fixed. _He loves her, _she realizes, with a sinking feeling.

And just like that, she's no longer hungry. She puts down the loaded fork that she was in the process of bringing to her mouth. "We should do that training we were talking about," she says.

Julian looks at her again, frowns. "Yeah. How about this afternoon? I'm free after two."

"Okay." She starts to get up. He reaches out and catches her wrist. "Where are you going?" he asks.

"I'm finished," she says, hoping her voice sounds steady.

"What? But—" he glances down at her almost-full plate. "You barely started."

"Eyes were bigger than my stomach," she says, shrugging and slipping her hand out of his grasp. "See you around two…in the Danger room."

He hesitates. "Are you okay?" he asks.

She closes her eyes. "Fine," she says, nodding. _Always am. _She picks up her plate and heads for the door, pausing only to throw the pancakes and the paper plate in the trash.

**…**

_**2:15 pm  
>Danger Room<strong>_

Laura enters the room a little later than planned, having gotten caught up in a conversation about a math assignment with Idie and Cessily—one which she desperately wanted to escape but couldn't. She'd also caught Nori looking at her sadly, which put her in an even worse mood.

When the doors open, she sees that he's sitting in the middle of the room, cross-legged and reading a book with an intent expression. He looks up immediately, though, and snaps the book shut. "Hey!" he calls.

"Hi." She slips her plaid green backpack off her shoulder and drops it along the side wall, near his. "Sorry, homework stuff."

"No problem." He leans back on his hands and gives her an uncertain look. "About earlier—"

"Forget it." She shakes her head. "I'm here to learn how to control these damn powers of yours…so I can have _mine _back as soon as possible."

"Right." He gets to his feet. "You're upset about something."

"You don't _know_ me," she says, a little angrily.

"No, I don't," he agrees. "But I know your scent. And it changed, this morning."

"How the hell do you know what anger smells like?!" she demands.

"How do _you_?" he challenges.

Laura doesn't have an answer for this. She doesn't necessarily have standards for how she sorts out smells. She is aware that scents change, and that anger adds a harsh, acrid scent to the person's base smell…but how does she associate this scent with anger? Instinct. Which, apparently, Julian is figuring out quite nicely. He gives her a knowing look, probably the same irritating all-knowing look that she herself used to give people that _she_ was calling out on a smell. _Fucking great, _she thinks.

"You're jealous about me liking Sofia, aren't you?" he asks, point-blank.

She avoids his gaze. "I came here for the power thing…and _only_ the power thing."

"You pretty much just said yes." He looks down. "Laura…I can't help it. Like I told you the other night…I've always liked her. I can't help how I feel."

"I didn't ask you to," Laura says curtly, her nose wrinkled. "Need I remind you…just about a week ago, you and I attacked each other on sight."

"Things change." He frowns. "I know you didn't ask me to stop. It's just that…things were kind of going good between us. I thought we might even be friends. And then…this morning…you just got mad at me all of a sudden."

"There's nothing you can do." She folds her arms. "Let's just get this over with, so we can go back to normal. And then we can part ways in whatever way is mutually agreeable."

"Okay," he says, but he doesn't look, sound or feel particularly happy.

**…**

_**5:45 pm  
>Danger Room<strong>_

"That's good," Julian pants, pinned against the ceiling of the Danger Room. "Amazing, actually…you're picking this up really quickly. Much quicker than I did."

Laura – her eyes glowing bright green and her hand shaking slightly—grits her teeth. "Yeah, well, I'm better than you at _a lot _of things."

"Probably," he admits. "Put me down…and I think we should call it a day. I'm getting hungry again."

She lets go, and he slams into the steel floor with a boney _crunch!_

"_**FUCK!" **_he blurts. There are a few _snap snap snap _sounds as his skeleton knits itself together again, and then he sits up and glares at her. "What the hell, Laura?! You already mastered put-downs."

"I sure did," she replies smugly, moving over to her back pack and picking it up. "See you tomorrow, fuckhead."

"We share a room," he reminds her, as he gets to his feet and approaches.

She closes her eyes. "Of course we do."

"Laura—" he reaches out and puts his hand on her shoulder. "Look. I _really_ don't like you being angry at me."

"Which is why you were my _enemy_ for years," she points out.

He rolls his eyes. "I meant now that I know you better. You're…you're a lot more than I thought you were."

She turns to look at him. "More what?"

He shrugs. "Like me, I guess."

"I am _not_ like you," Laura argues. "You're an asshole."

"Only sometimes."

"Whatever." She pauses. "It'll pass. Just give me time….and space. You talking about it constantly doesn't make it easier."

"Okay," he says, a little less uncertainly. He pats her on the shoulder, then picks up his backpack, and they leave the Danger Room together. The lights turn off automatically behind them.

**…**

_**8:50 PM  
>Julian's (and Laura's Temporary) Room<strong>_

"Looks like Professor McCoy fixed the bathroom," Julian calls.

"I know," Laura replies, from the bed. "First thing I did when I got in, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." He closes the door behind him and does his business, then catches a glimpse of the shower—and his mind is filled with a picture of Laura using it. Naked. And wet. He swallows, feeling a little light-headed from the sudden redistribution of blood in his body. Flushing the toilet, he heads to the sink and washes his hands—_hands!_—then dries them on the towel, and exits the bathroom.

He surveys his room. It has not changed all that much since Laura's arrival, given that she'd had very few belongings. Her 'bunch of stuff' had amounted to a small clothing collection, a pile of books and a few little knickknacks, mostly presents from Logan—the latter of which are displayed on his bookshelf. And then there's Laura herself, lying stomach-down on his bed, reading intently from a textbook and mouthing something to herself. After a few moments she looks up at him. "What?" she asks.

He shakes his head slightly. "Nothing." And returns to his open Calculus book. After a few minutes, however, he knows that trying to concentrate on it is absolutely pointless, and he snaps it shut. "Think I'm going for a shower. You need the bathroom?"

"All yours," she says absently.

For a moment, he feels vaguely disappointed, then questions himself. Why? Did he somehow think she'd think it was a great idea? Jump up and join him? He reenters the bathroom, pulls the door shut and strips while the water is heating up, then steps into the stream and closes his eyes. Today was pretty exhausting. The whole _week_ has been pretty exhausting…and difficult. He braces himself against the shower wall and hangs his head. He stays there like that for a while.

If he's honest with himself, he's starting to question the sanity of his devotion to Sofia. It's been what, three years now? Four? Nothing's happened between them except for one small kiss, about a year into her arrival at the school. And then…nothing.

On the other hand, he's known Laura for perhaps two years. They'd clashed instantly, and their fights had grown more and more intense. In a way, he's always been attracted to her…and he's always enjoyed their fights, which is why he often instigated them. And ever since the fateful day in the classroom when she'd given him the idea that the attraction is mutual…he hasn't been able to get her out of his head. And earlier in the week—making out with her—and all these little moments he's been having lately—_you're an idiot, _he thinks, gritting his teeth and shaking his head. He switches off the water and reaches for a towel, feeling very urgent. He needs to at least talk about this with her, the possibility of something between them.

When he finally gets out to the room—having felt like drying off took forever, and wrapping the towel around his waist even longer—he finds it empty. For a moment he feels stupid, standing there dripping on his carpet while Laura isn't even around. He thinks about returning to the shower, then something on the bed catches his eye—a small silver thing. Frowning, he moves over to the bed and picks it up, examines it. It's a small silver needle, with a green plastic thing attached. What is it? _A dart, _he realizes. He looks at the window next…and sees that it is open. He freezes, his eyes widening.

Laura's been taken by someone.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Thanks! I have quite a bit of realism planned for this story, thrown in with a splash of the bizarreness that is the Wolverine school. Good times ahead! :D

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<br>**

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><p><em><strong>9:05 PM<br>Location Unknown**_

"Mmmrmmm…" Laura raises her head slowly and looks around her. She is in some kind of a metal box, and the floor is bouncing underneath her. Rather, _she_ is bouncing on the floor. A truck of some kind—probably a van. Even without her enhanced senses, she knows who has taken her. _The facility, _she realizes instantly, with a stab of fear.

Her fear grows. They don't know that she doesn't heal anymore…and they won't believe her even if she tells them. A kidnapping by the facility always involves some spectacularly gruesome torture by Kimura, who is hell-bent on making her pay for existing. Last time, this had involved a chain saw. _And she killed Harkins, _Laura realizes. Her horror increases. Harkins probably would have stopped short of killing her, once he discovered her lack of a healing factor. Kimura won't care.

_I'm going to die. _She presses her aching head against the floor of the van, her teeth chattering. This is _nothing_ compared to her fear of Kid Gladiator. This is…mortal terror. The absolute certainty of death in her near future.

She curls into a ball and closes her eyes, her eyebrows drawn together as far as they will go.

**…**

_**9:05 PM  
>Logan's office, Jean Grey School for Higher Learning<strong>_

Logan looks up from the enormous stack of exams that he's grading, at Keller, who has just burst into his office…zipping up his old suit from the Xavier school, the suit that Logan has expressly forbidden in this institution. He feels a flare of sheer annoyance, at the idea that Keller is so brazen as to actually break into his office to do this in front of him. "The hell are you doing?" he demands, his mind racing over the possible punishments he can inflict on the stupid kid.

"They've got Laura, and I thought I'd come tell you before I go," Keller says.

"What?" Logan stares at him. "Who has Laura?"

"The facility, I'm guessing," he replies. "There was a dart on the bed."

All thoughts of punishment flee from Logan's mind. "Bleedin' Christ," he growls, shoving himself away from his desk. "I have about two hundred exams to grade here. Those _inconsiderate_ _mother fuckers_." He stomps toward the door, his hands balled into fists. "Follow!" he barks at Keller.

The kid obeys, and they head down the hallway, toward the ready room. _**"RACHEL!" **_Logan snaps at thin air. "Yeah, you. Get everyone together…we got a problem. Keller…how the hell did this happen? I told you punks to stick together like glue!"

"I was taking a shower," Keller says defensively.

"And you didn't _hear _an attack just down the hall?!" Logan shakes his head. "Laura would've been on top of this. _Typical_."

"No, I didn't hear it," Julian replies, not feeling the need to correct him about his being much closer than _down the hall_. "It was all really _quiet, _and the water was running. I was also exhausted from getting my head smashed in by Kid Gladiator this morning and then a full day of classes."

"Hrumpf." They reach the elevator and Logan pounds the down arrow. "Let's just hope to God they don't do nothin' to her before we get there. She won't heal."

Keller doesn't answer, but Logan hears the way he reacts to the thought—a sharp intake of breath and a rising pulse. He nods slightly. Maybe the kid isn't going to go bad like he'd thought. At least he still cares for his friends.

**…**

_**9:30 PM  
>Location Unknown<strong>_

The movement of the van finally ceases. Laura scrapes herself up and backs away into the corner, staring at the door in terror. She wonders how painful her death will be, and if it will be fast or lingering. _Probably fast, because Kimura will do something like break my neck. That's her usual greeting. _

Heavy footsteps approach the door, and then it is ripped aside—and Kimura is peering in at her. "23!" she exclaims, with her familiar, maniacal grin. "It's been a while! Have you missed me as much as I missed you?"

Laura doesn't answer. She draws her knees up to her chest and tries not to go into full-out panic mode. It's very hard. Just breathing is hard. She's never feared pain so much, or the idea of death—a concept she has occasionally longed for in the past.

_Julian's going to keep my healing factor, then, _she realizes with a start. _Or will he automatically get his telekinesis back when I die?_

_His telekinesis. _

She suddenly remembers her new power.

"Even _more_," she answers Kimura—then reaches out and focuses on flinging her backwards as hard as she can.

_**VRRMM!**_

"_**ARRGHH!" **_Kimura yells, as she is flung back into a brick wall just behind the truck. Bricks explode behind her. Laura scrambles forward on her hands and knees, her eyes glowing. "I have a few tricks I'd like to show you. Thought you'd be proud."

"Stupid—clone!" Kimura begins to reach for something on her belt. "Don't you know I can just—"

"Not if I destroy your stupid devices!" Laura snaps, making a fist. The tiny pocket-siren in her handler's fist explodes with a little cloud of smoke. She then summons Kimura's entire gadget-belt to her hand, keeping her nemesis pinned up with the other.

"Grrr! Let _go_ of me!" Kimura shouts, kicking her legs in the air.

"Not before I'm through," Laura hisses, jumping out of the van and putting her finger to Kimura's forehead. "Now, tell me. You get Megan's choices. The heart…or the head?"

"_**GRRRRNNN! COME HELP ME!" **_Kimura shouts into her headset. Laura knocks it away with her other hand, drops it to the ground and steps on it with the heel of her boot. "You know what? You're a fucking monster. Monsters don't _get_ choices." She focuses—as hard as she can—on making a hole inside of the woman's head.

Kimura makes a choking noise, then sags. Laura steps back, feeling a rush of exhilaration. Did she really just…she grins. Better make sure.

Then she hears the sounds of boots coming for her, and her eyes widen. She runs to the opposite end of the alleyway—and finds it's a solid brick wall.

"_Gnnn…." _She hears, and turns around—just in time to see the gun that Kimura is holding out toward her. _"Go to hell, clone…_" are the last words she hears.

_**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! **__Click! Click! Click…click…_

**…**

_**Twenty minutes earlier (9:10 pm)  
>Ready room, Jean Grey School for Higher Learning<strong>_

"We need Hope here," Logan announces. "And Frost."

"What?! No!" Kitty Pryde glares at her colleague. "They're nothing but trouble. And I can't say that we should be _inviting _them. We'll just be proving their point!"

"Ah agree," Rogue says, with a concerned expression.

"But Laura does not currently have her healing factor," Professor McCoy argues. "If she is injured, Hope may be able to reverse whatever she did in the first place so that she _can_ heal."

"A lot of people don't have healing factors," Ms. Pryde points out, waving her finger fiercely. _"And _she has Keller's TK. That will tide her over till we get there. I vote a big fat _no_ on the Utopia requests."

"This is _not_ a vote," Logan says firmly. He looks at Rachel Summers. "Call them. _Now._ Tell them to use Pixie. Everyone else, get in your freakin' gear. The jet leaves in two minutes."

"But—" Ms. Pryde looks angry. "You wouldn't do this for any other student, Logan! Just because she's _your _daughter—"

"No…because it's the facility and that psycho handler of hers." Logan pulls on his gloves, giving Ms. Pryde a steely look. "Don't think anyone without a healing factor would last longer than a minute with her around. Laura might hold out till we get there. But we gotta hurry."

In the background, Julian is trying not to panic. It's only been about ten minutes since she'd been taken, but it feels like a lifetime. He's terrified by the thought that she could be killed. He knows about the facility, since they'd kidnapped Cessily once…and he knows about Kimura, having met her. He doesn't know much more than that, but he'd heard rumors about a chainsaw the last time Laura encountered her…and he'd witnessed her entering the infirmary with a sheet over the place one arm should be—but obviously wasn't—and two Adamantium claws in her other hand.

He tries to picture her suddenly not being around. Returning to an empty room every day. Not seeing her at lunch, or in the Danger Room…or anywhere. Just gone. He feels sick.

"Keller!" Logan barks, seeming to suddenly notice his presence.

"What?" Julian asks.

"You're staying here."

"Like hell I am!" Julian folds his arms.

Logan looks annoyed. "Like hell you aren't. Not takin' kids on this thing."

"There's no way I'm staying. She's my…friend…and besides…I have her healing factor. I need to be there to give it back." Julian holds the older man's gaze. "If you don't let me come…I'll get Kid Gladiator to fly me. We're virtually best friends now."

Logan arches his eyebrows. "You two were tryin' to kill each other just this morning."

"And he was impressed that he couldn't shut me down," Julian says. "You _know_ Kubark wouldn't turn down the chance to 'do battle' against Kimura."

Logan pauses for a moment, then turns to Rachel. "Get Kid Gladiator in here, pronto!" he barks.

She blinks, looking startled. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Seein' as I might not be able to stop her myself…might not hurt to have him along." Logan glances at Julian. "You two _better_ not fight."

"Cross my heart," Julian replies.

**…**

_**9:30 PM  
>An alley somewhere<strong>_

Laura stumbles backwards—into the brick wall behind her—hits it and slides down, her eyes fluttering. Her chest feels odd, very odd, and she feels cold. She hears strange, distant rattling noises…coming from herself. _God…got a sucking…chest wound, _she realizes, looking down slightly and seeing the fountains of blood from her torso. _Shot me. _She thinks—briefly—of trying to find something to plug it with, but then decides it's too much effort. She'll just close her eyes. No one will miss her.

Kimura's on her feet and moving toward her, throwing her gun on the ground. "Stupid little bitch," she says, reaching back with a booted foot. It slams into Laura's stomach, and the girl responds with a spurt of blood from her mouth. The woman pauses, looking down at the clone she's been trying to kill ever since she was created. "Huh," she says.

It feels kind of anti-climactic. So easy. _There'll be other challenges, _Kimura thinks, with satisfaction. _And I can still screw with her, before she's gone. _"Hey, clone." She drops to her knees, cups Laura's chin with her steel-strong fingers. "I just wanted you to know…that you failed. You might be dead…but I won't stop till everyone who ever knew you is dead. Megan…Debbie…Morales…Logan…those kids you hang around with….especially that one…what's his name, the cocky little—" she pauses, and turns, hearing a sound. Her eyebrows draw together as she sees a weird looking gray-skinned punk, with a bright red Mohawk. He's wearing very reflective red sunglasses.

"Who the fuck are _you?_" she asks.

"_**I AM IMPERIAL PRINCE KUBARK OF THE SH'IAR!"**_ he announces, in a booming voice. "I am been informed that you may be a worthy opponent. I usually don't hit wenches since they are so inferior, but I'm really bored of your earthling warriors…and I'm desperate. Let's fight."

Kimura's forehead wrinkles. "Are you for _real?_"

"Of course, why would you ask such a stupid question?" Kubark glances at Laura, and frowns. "Did you shoot my would-be concubine?"

"…_get l…logan…" _Laura wheezes, having clapped her hand against the wound on her lung.

"They're coming," Kubark says. "There is a platoon of soldiers. I was ordered to prevent the wench warrior from mortally damaging you." He pauses. "Looks like I was too late."

"And too slow!" Kimura snaps, whirling around and kicking the boy in the knee…but nothing happens, and she looks up in confusion. Kubark reaches down and grabs her by her ponytail, then lifts her to her feet. "They did not lie!" he says gleefully. "You are truly invulnerable! We will make battle. Come, away from the squishy concubine." He proceeds to drag the kicking and screaming Kimura down the alleyway by her hair, in a manner similar to that which she has dragged Laura many times.

Laura smiles—very slightly—at the irony. She finds herself suddenly liking Kubark a lot better. She is starting to drift away again when there are running footsteps—and then Julian collides with the wall beside her, turns to her, and starts shaking her by the shoulders, saying something urgently. He sounds really concerned. Her head wobbles and she looks at him sleepily, her eyes feeling very heavy. She can't figure out what he's saying, and by the way the way black is creeping into her vision, she knows she never will. It's like she's looking down two long tunnels to see tiny, blurry images at the end.

He slaps her cheek, shouting now. She blinks, hard, tries to hear, but can't and shakes her head very slightly. He must be worried about the power-thing. _Whatever happens…happens, _she thinks. And then she doesn't think anymore. She just…stops.

**…**

_**9:35 PM  
>An alley somewhere<strong>_

"_**NO!" **_Julian shouts, because he can't hear her heartbeat anymore. He tries the basic CPR that they taught him at the school, but it's worthless. He finally gives up, his face and hands smeared with blood, and his head spinning.

There had been some kind of interference, and Rachel hadn't been able to get hold of Emma or Hope, so no help is incoming…and he knows that—with every passing minute without her healing factor—the chance of getting Laura back is diminishing exponentially. If it exists to begin with. After about thirty seconds have passed, he scoops her stiffening body up and carries her down the alleyway, not even looking up when he hears a woman roaring in pain at the top of a building nearby.

He reaches the building just as Logan emerges, having gone in search of Laura. No one had realized that they'd never made it _into _the facility…not until Kubark had announced he was bored, and 'went to stretch his legs'. On a gut feeling he'd followed.

Logan sees the body, and his expression darkens. "Give her here."

"I t-tried already," Julian says. "She's…she's just gone…can't you hear it?"

The older man glares at him, which he takes to mean that yes, he can. The sound of silence.

"God dammit," Logan says, looking down. He's never looked so defeated. Julian doesn't know how he feels anymore. He thought he'd left that all behind, the death and the losses. That they were somewhat safe now. That he could start to have a life again, to not be afraid every day of losing something else, be it a limb or a friend.

He looks down at Laura's face, and suddenly feels tired. She feels heavy—very heavy in his arms—and for a moment he almost drops her, startled by the sudden change. Then she jolts and gasps for air, her eyes snapping open and bulging. There is a _tink! _sound as a flattened bullet drops to the pavement below them. Then…_tink tink tink tink tink!_ as the rest fall out of her body, like metal rain.

"Where…w-what…" she seems to roll out of his arms, and they both collapse on the ground. Logan kneels down and puts his hands on Laura's shoulders. "It's okay, it's okay," he soothes, seeing that her glassy eyes are darting around wildly. She is breathing very hard and fast through her nose, and her skin is very pale.

Julian, on the other hand, is rubbing his head, which _really_ hurts. His fingertips are sparking back and forth with green light, a clue to what has happened. He pushes himself up with one hand, gestures with his index finger of the other, and lifts one of the bullets off the ground a few feet in front of him. It floats to his hand, and he makes a fist around it…then grits his teeth and looks up to where Kid Gladiator is currently running Kimura's face up the side of a skyscraper, shouting something about 'the glory of battle'.

"Keller—_**STOP!" **_Logan shouts, but it's too late. He's shooting up toward the fight scene, ignoring the pounding in his head, hell bent on achieving one thing.

When he reaches them, Kid Gladiator pauses and looks at him. _**"AH! I KNEW YOU WOULD APPRECIATE THIS! DO YOU WANT A TURN WITH THE PLAYTHING?" **_

Julian looks at Kimura. She doesn't look hurt—just furious—dangling from her long hair in the middle of the sky. She grins at him. "Yeah, take a turn, you whiny little brat. First chance I get…I'll fill your face with broken glass. To start with."

He lifts the bullet into the air and sends it flying toward her, his teeth gritted. He aims for her narrowed eyes.

"What are you doing?" Kubark asks, sounding curious. Kimura begins to scream, and there is a small explosion. Julian blinks as he is hit by a blood splatter.

"This was a new garment!" Kid Gladiator snaps. "And you have killed my plaything! I was intending to bring it back with us to alleviate my boredom at the school."

"She was a fucking monster," Julian says, gazing at his handiwork. Kimura has stopped struggling and is now hanging limply from her hair. "You saw what she did to Laura."

"The concubine was mortally damaged," Kubark agrees. "Has she recovered yet?"

"Yeah, but it was a close call." Julian hesitates. "You could probably put her down now."

"She is worthless to me dead," the other boy agrees again—and releases his hold. They watch in silence as Kimura's body drops onto a car below, about thirty stories down. It bends in half, and they can hear the faint sounds of the car's alarm.

"I meant _gently,_" Julian says, finally.

Kubark shrugs. "I like smashing things."

A pause.

"That _was_ pretty satisfying," he agrees.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Woohoo! Baka, that's what I was going for. Except Cloud 9's a while off. More like Cloud 1 for poor Julian. This story ain't over yet, not by a longshot...he has long miles to go. Kaos: That's going to be explained. It's pretty cool and central to the story. Bacon: Your name is automatically because it contains bacon. Also, thank you! I am having a blast writing this story...and I'm really starting to become a fan of the Wolverine school characters, even though I still feel sad that they entirely replaced the NXM in Aaron & Marvel's eyes. The problem is, the kids we loved throughout Kyle & Yost's run got abused by a bunch of other writers like Liu, Fraction, etc. They made their lives all drama and seriousness. But if they looked at the K & Y run and attempted any sort of continuity, I'm pretty sure the result would be more like this story (minus Laura having the extra sauce that I like to add, and usually explain away...I am probably the biggest X-23 fan on earth and know well that she doesn't behave like this. I just like coming up with creative backgrounds for her to act obnoxiously, while still retaining most of her base nature issues :)

Thanks all and hope you keep enjoying!

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<br>**

* * *

><p><em><strong>10:07 PM<br>Logan's office, Jean Grey School for Higher Learning**_

Logan surveys his three students, seated on chairs before him, swathed in blankets because somehow Kitty Pryde and Paige Guthrie feel blankets will help. He disagrees, but doesn't particularly care to argue the point with them.

Laura seems the worst off of the three. She's fully recovered, her healing factor thankfully back in full force, but she is _very _shaken up about dying, and about the idea that it might have been permanent. Logan feels bad for her, but in a way thinks it might be a good thing. She'll be a little more respectful of death now…maybe learn that having a healing factor doesn't mean she can take shortcuts and risk her life all the time. He himself has learned to never count that whatever the enemy is throwing at him won't bring him down.

Julian is also pretty shaken up, and there's a bitterness about his expression that Logan doesn't like. It's the expression that he'd worn for the first few months of his time at the Jean Grey School…the haunted, bitter look of someone who can't accept that life is full of both good and ugly. Granted, times _have _been tough lately…but he'll need to keep his eye on him again. What he'd done to Kimura, Logan hadn't felt like arguing about. But it's important that he doesn't consider it a solution for the next monster.

Kubark, however, seems perfectly calm. Positively _cheerful. _Logan doesn't know where to start with this one. He doesn't even know whether to be worried. Neither had Gladiator, when he'd asked him the favor of taking on his son and teaching him 'wisdom'. The kid's a freaking headache to manage.

Beside Kubark is his ever-present imperial guard, Warbird. She seems very tense and resentful, her arms folded and her solid white eyes narrowed and fixed on Logan. Apparently, the kid has managed to sneak out of her range three times in the past week, to engage in shenanigans with Laura and Keller. The bad thing is, she doesn't lift a finger to scold her charge when he misbehaves. She just watches…and prevents anyone from trying to get near him.

A freaking headache, wrapped up in a paradox and sealed with a conundrum. Logan rubs his face with his palms, thinking back to the days where he was just good-old-beer-drinking-Wolverine, the grumpy self-defense teacher. He taught the kids to kick ass, rumbled with the X-men, and let Chuck and Summers deal with all this administrative bullshit.

"So," he says finally. "You good?"

Laura and Keller are silent. Kubark grins. "I had the best of times!" he exclaims, leaning forward. "Kimura was as indestructible as you said! Can you find more of her kind? I thought of a building I would like to ram her into. Well, not a building, the statue of Lib—"

"How 'bout you two?" Logan asks the others, cutting him off.

Keller shrugs, looks at Laura. "We're both alive, aren't we?" he says finally.

"Guess so." Logan closes his eyes. "Kids….this school ain't about what it was before. We're not gonna be sitting ducks, but I'm not usin' you like soldiers, either. We're doin' what we can to keep you safe. This was—"

"If you say an anomaly, I'm going to get pissed," Keller interrupts him, folding his arms. "That's what Cyclops always called it."

Logan looks at him. "I'm not lyin' to you," he says. "Times are tough, tougher than some of us had 'em growin' up…but that doesn't mean we're gonna quit living. I want you to live as normally as you can. We'll do what _we_ can to keep you safe…and when stuff slips through our control…well, that's when _you_ need to stand up for yourselves. And we'll do that for as long as we can."

Keller gives him a hard look, but doesn't argue. Laura hesitates. "Is…is Kimura…"

"Dead," Logan says. "I double-checked."

She shivers. "G-good."

He sighs. "Laura…I'll talk to you later. Come by my office tomorrow, ok? In the meantime…just relax. Take time off for a day or two. Spend it with a friend. Or I'll keep you company, if you want, but I think a friend your age would be better."

She nods slightly. He leans back in his seat.

"You can all go now," he says. "And let one of us know if you gotta talk about something. Door's always open."

**…**

_**10:48 PM  
>Julian's (and Laura's Temporary) Room<strong>_

Laura stops as they enter the bedroom, and looks at the bed, and the dart still on it, and starts to shake. "I'm n-not safe here!" she exclaims, backing out and making to brush past Julian. He catches her wrist and shakes his head. "I killed her," he says. "She can't hurt you anymore."

"She _always_ comes back!" Laura protests, also shaking her head. Then she starts to cry—overwhelmed, angry tears. She pushes him away and runs into the bathroom. He reaches out and crumples the dart with his mind, then sends it flying out the window, which he then closes. Dusting his hands off, he follows her into the bathroom and leans on the doorframe. "If she comes back, I'll kill her again," he says calmly.

Laura looks at the shower. "You can't always be there," she replies.

He looks down at his hands and notices that they are still covered with her dried blood. "Damn, need a second shower."

She glances at him in renewed fear. He sighs. "Or I guess I can take one in the morning. Let's get to bed…I'm pretty beat."

**…**

_**11:30 AM  
>Julian's (and Laura's Temporary) Room<strong>_

When Julian wakes up, Laura is already gone, along with her back pack. He's shocked, seeing as he'd thought she'd take the day off after dying. Apparently not. He showers and dresses slowly, then heads down to the cafeteria for lunch. He notices Laura right away—and Sofia—sitting at a table in the back. They seem to be having a very serious conversation. Laura is reaching across and patting her friend's hand, her eyebrows drawn together. For a split second he watches them, wondering what they could be talking about—and wishing he still had Laura's hearing—then the said Laura looks up, obviously sensing him. She closes her eyes and says something, then smiles at her friend—in a forced way—and gets to her feet…and heads toward him.

"I did it," she announces, a little too brightly.

"Did what?" he asks, confused.

"Put in a good word for you." Laura pauses, and gives him a serious look. "I told her that she's a very lucky woman and that I wish you two enough babies to make your own army. Go over there and sweep her off her feet." She pats him on the shoulder and heads out of the cafeteria so swiftly that Julian doesn't even have time to react. He blinks and stays rooted to the spot, trying to sort out what just happened.

Finally, he heads toward Sofia's table and sits down in the seat Laura just vacated, his expression making his confusion plain. "What did she really say?" he asks.

Sofia shrugs. "That is between her and me." She pauses. "I will tell you that it was all good."

"I see." Julian looks at her. In the shower last night—before Laura was abducted—he'd classified Sofia as an 'impossible dream'. Now she is giving him a small smile, with the promise of bigger ones to come. The keys to his dream are right here—all he has to do is go along with it. He feels that annoying _'yes, but—' _moral thing he's been listening to lately, the one that tells him not to do things that feel good because they are wrong. He wonders absently if it's some kind of residue of Laura's healing factor. After a few moments, he hangs his head.

"Go after her," Sofia advises.

"What?" he looks up at her.

"You are not here for me." She looks at the hallway. "You never have been."

"But—" he rubs his face with his hand. "There was a point—"

"Yes, we kissed once," she says. "She came to the school the next day, remember? You hardly noticed me after that."

"That's—" Julian hesitates. "That can't be right. I've _always_ noticed you."

"As a reason to pick fights with her, yes," Sofia says. "Stop wasting time."

He thinks, then gets up and heads for the cafeteria doors.

**…**

_**12:15 PM  
>Courtyard<strong>_

"Wait!" Julian shouts, seeing that Laura is getting onto her motorcycle, a backpack on her back and a helmet on her head. She doesn't turn her head, just hastens her movements, gunning the engine and nudging up the kickstand with the toe of her boot. He hurries down the steps, then remembers he can fly and reaches her in a matter of seconds—before she can move the throttle. He plants himself in front of her bike.

"Stop, we need to talk."

"About _what?_" she asks stiffly.

"Us."

"Not this again." She rolls her eyes. "Julian—god, _please _don't be an idiot. I just advised my friend to give you a chance." Her voice softens. "My handler is dead. I don't _need_ to be here anymore, and there's a chance for you to be happy—"

"I won't be," he says stubbornly.

She sighs. "You _are_ an idiot then."

"No, I want—"

"No you don't." Laura gives him a direct look. "Our powers are back. We don't have anything in common anymore, and like you said—you don't even know me. And _I _barely know _you._ Less than a week ago, we were worse to each other than we are to Quire."

"Things change," he says, for the second time in a relatively short period of time. "Please…don't go. Give me a chance, that's all I'm asking for." He reaches out and puts his hands on the handlebars. Laura sees this. "Julian, that's the throttle—"

He shields himself instinctively, just in time. The bike rears up and flies into the air, its motor revving very fast; Laura is now sitting in the mud, a very disgruntled look on her face. He catches the motorcycle again before it hits the ground, but the cloud of smoke coming from its engine compartment suggests that it has not escaped damage.

"That was an accident," he says, shaken.

"Oh good call, Captain Obvious." Laura gets to her feet and moves over to her smoking bike. "That's not the best way to hit on a girl, you know…screwing with her baby…" she holds the handlebars and begins to examine it, wincing.

"It was an _accident,_" he fumes, following her. "How was I to know the gas pedal is up _there? _ What a crazy place to put it."

Laura rolls her eyes. "Like I was saying…if we had _anything _in common…you would understand. Just leave me alone, asshole."

"No." He folds his arms. "I'll pay to get it fixed."

"Don't be stupid, I'll fix it myself. No one else is laying a _finger _on my baby."

Julian feels himself getting irritated. "Dammit, Laura. Stop making excuses."

Laura gives him a look of dry amusement, and shakes her head slowly. "I know what your problem is now. You don't like being happy. You _enjoy_ misery."

"That's not true at all!" he replies.

"You've wanted to be with Sofia for as long as I've known you," Laura says. "You convinced yourself you could be happy with her. Now she's willing to consider you, and you're out here with me. Tell me again how you're not avoiding happiness." She tilts her head, still holding the handlebars.

"Sofia told me to go after _you,_" he says, frustrated.

Laura pauses. "What?"

"_She _could see it." He hesitates. "When I thought you were dead—"

"Don't!" she cuts him off, raising her free hand in the air. "I don't want to hear it. No sappy shit. Whatever you thought you felt at that moment—it wasn't real." She glares at him. "I'm right here—right in front of you. _I'm not dead._ So just forget it happened."

"I can't!" He runs a hand through his hair. "It _did _happen, and I _felt_ those things—and I don't want you to go, okay? I want you to—"

"To what?" Laura arches her eyebrows. "To be your _girlfriend?_"

Julian hesitates. "Well, yeah."

She grins. "Did you hit your head recently?"

His expression darkens. "God _damn _you, Laura. I _hate _you. You're infuriating and confusing. I get a headache just thinking about you."

"And yet you want to date me." Laura rolls her eyes. "This seems like a healthy relationship. Let's explore it more."

He folds his arms. "If you'd just admit that—"

"Admit what?" she interrupts. "That there's some chemistry between us? Sure. Tons. I alternate between wanting to stab or fuck your brains out." She wrinkles her nose. "But that's just it. Relationships are supposed to be a _good_ thing, from what I hear…not a source of grief and misery."

Julian makes a conscious effort to move past the 'fuck your brains out' line. "How do you know it would be misery?" he counters. "Did you suddenly get some kind of precog power?"

"Yeah. It's called 'common sense'." Laura smirks. "Come on. You may be an idiot, but I know you're not stupid. You _know_ I'm right, and you're just arguing the point to…well, I'm not sure what you're getting out of the deal. Maybe just for the sake of being a stubborn son-of-a-bitch."

"No." Julian folds his arms. "I'm arguing the point because I don't want to give up without trying. If there's a chance—even a _small_ chance that we could make each other happy…isn't it worth trying for it?" He hesitates. "You know, in the same way that we're trying for the small chance that we can survive and lead normal lives?"

Laura hesitates. Her lips are just parting for a response when the front door opens, about ten feet away from the gravel round-about courtyard where she and Julian are standing with her bike. It turns out to be Logan, cigar and lighter in one hand, beer in the other. "What's goin' on here?" he asks.

Julian doesn't hesitate. "She's leaving the school," he tattles.

Laura shoots him a death glare. Logan's eyebrows raise. "_Is _she, now," he says, in a tone that says _I don't think so. _"What's goin' on with your bike there?"

"He blew it up," she snaps.

Julian shakes his head. "It was an accident."

Logan shakes his head. "Take it to the garage an' I'll give it a look-over tonight. Dammit, Laura. Where the hell where you plannin' to go?"

"I—" she closes her eyes. "I can't take it here. All this crap about us being normal. The dress code…the play-nice atmosphere…the aliens…"

"We don't have _that_ many aliens," Logan protests. "Only two. Three, if you count Doop."

"I don't care. It's not _me._" She looks down. "I want to be myself somewhere else."

Logan gives his clone-daughter a patient look, then sighs. "Laura…and I guess you too, Keller. Neither of you really need to be here."

Julian is surprised at this admission. He raises his eyebrows.

"Did you ever stop to think that it might be other kids that need you?" he continues. "Idie…Broo…Quire…Kid Gladiator…another one on the way, got a call about him an hour ago from Fantomex…they need examples. Role models, if you will. They gotta see what bein' relatively stable looks like."

"I'm flattered," Laura says, glancing at Julian. "Berserker rage himself just called us _relatively stable. _That's like a serial killer telling a murderer that they're not _that_ bad."

"Shut up," Logan says, rolling his eyes. "Think it over. I gotta have this smoke before I stab someone. Toad just got all up in my face about the Bamfs takin' shits in his scrub bucket, and Hank said we might have a dimensional invasion tomorrow, whatever the hell that means."

"I'm guessing more aliens," Julian says flatly.

"The reasons for staying just keep adding up," Laura says, but she begins to move her bike toward the garage, and Julian relaxes a little—and jogs to catch up with her. "Hey," he says.

She keeps her head firmly bowed. "You told on me."

"Wanted you to stay."

"It's unforgivable." She turns the corner to the garage. "People don't like tattle-tails, Julian."

"Come on," he says, watching as she slides her bike in beside Logan's and props it on the kickstand. "Give me a break. What if it had been _me_ leaving?"

Laura pauses. "I would have thrown a party," she says, her back turned to him and head bowed, but he can tell—somehow—that she's not being entirely truthful. He feels a glimmer of hope, hope that she has been resisting because she doesn't believe him. He moves into the garage and touches her lower back lightly. "I want you," he says softly.

There is a pause, and then she turns. "You're not lying," she says.

"I'm not." He smiles slightly. "I think we should try. See where it goes. If…if you're not happy…you can leave then, okay?"

She hesitates, gives him a doubtful look. "You're crazy," she says.

"No, experts have confirmed that I'm relatively stable," he reminds her.

She smirks, reaches out and takes hold of the sides of his over shirt. "You dress like a fifteen year old in a punk band," she says.

"Lead singer," he replies. She looks up, and then he leans forward and kisses her. They both close their eyes, eyebrows arching in surprise, because it feels different than the first time—the make-out session that had gotten Laura kicked out of her room. It feels awkward and uncertain, but also less dirty and guilt-ridden. Laura hesitates, not sure what to do with her hands, then she places them against his stomach; he rests his on her sides. A few moments pass, but it feels longer. He finally draws away and gives her a direct look. "Give me a try?" he asks, knowing that this is going to be her final word.

Laura hesitates, sucks in her lips—because they are burning—and then shrugs, nodding slightly. "Whatever," she says, as if the question never even mattered to her. He feels briefly irritated, then dismisses it and grins at her.

They head back into the school in silence, passing by Logan, whose eyes narrow slightly in Julian's direction. He has the uncomfortable feeling that—as quiet as their discussion had been, barely a whisper about sixty feet away—he had heard every word like thunder. But Logan doesn't interrupt them, and so he tries to shake the idea. They reach the stairs and Laura hesitates.

"I don't have a room," she remembers.

"So stay in mine."

"Are you insane?" Laura asks, yet again. "I can't live with you if we're dating now! We'll kill each other."

Julian rolls his eyes. "No we won't."

She shakes her head. "Moving in together destroys relationships."

"Where the hell are you getting your statistics from?" he asks.

Laura hesitates. "Nori," she admits.

"And _she's _obviously a reliable source," he says, his lip curling. "As I recall, she tried to convince her boyfriend that she was cheating on him…and then he turned out to be cheating on her anyway, with a guy. Sure sounds like someone who knows what she's doing."

"Shut up," she says.

"You're staying with me." He pauses. "You can change things if you want."

Laura raises her eyebrows. "Aren't we committed."

"No, I just don't give a fuck about my room," he says. "I go there to do homework and sleep. But if it'll make you enjoy being there more, have at it."

They begin to head up the stairs.

**…**

_**12:34 PM  
>Julian (and Laura's temporary) room<strong>_

"Is this how you had them?" Julian asks.

Laura glances at the shelf he's gesturing to, which is now displaying her nick-nacks again. "Pretty much."

"You have surprisingly little stuff for a female," he comments, noting that she's hung up only two pairs of jeans and a sweater in the closet space he'd cleared for her. "Fuck that…for a person in general. I don't usually like shopping…but do you want to go to the mall?"_**  
><strong>_  
>"For?" she prods.<p>

"More stuff."

"What stuff?"

He shrugs. "Clothes? Girly things?"

"I'm good, thanks," she says.

"Okay." He hesitates. "Didn't you used to have a bunch of corsets and skirts and…you know, back when you were kind of a goth?"

"Yep." Laura flops down on the bed.

"Where is that all now?" he asks, unable to help himself.

"Got blown up." She arches her eyebrows. "You _liked _them, didn't you?"

Julian nods. "Especially…you had that black leather dress-thing…"

Laura rolls her eyes. "Are you saying you want me to dress like that again?"

"I'm not saying anything," he says, leaning on the shelf and folding his arms. "Do what you want to do. I was just…wondering."

"Okay then." She thinks. "Wait a minute. Don't we have booze in here?"

Julian takes this as an order. They have some of the whiskey, and then rum, but don't touch the Tequila, neither really wanting to get drunk. They spend the rest of the afternoon in random conversation, a few of their topics including aliens and the impending 'dimensional invasion', as well as discussions about their classmates.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: ****afterfake13- this is an AU, so Kubark hasn't left the school (yet, if he does)-nothing Phoenix has occured. This is taking place sometime after Wolverine opens the school, after Krakoa revealed itself, but before anything major has happened like the Phoenix Five. Ethan (wee Apocalypse) is not at the school yet either. This was not an update to the last chapter; the story has a pretty big plot. I've written up to Chapter 15 and have a lot more planned, maybe like another 10 chapters. Kaos- yeah I was kind of surprised about Prodigy too, it's a nice change, and in hindsight it explains a bit why he seemed a bit oddly flat in his relationship with Nori. I haven't finished reading the AA arena arc in the comics. I think the concept is cool but execution is poor, I haven't really cared for anything Marvel X-23 since K & Y's run ended. Yes, I will definitely be touching on the AA arena thing at some point. Keep tuned! :o)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<br>**

* * *

><p><em><strong>2:19 pm<br>Mutant Literature classroom**_

"Where is Ms. Guthrie?" Sofia asks finally, after the whole class has been waiting for almost twenty minutes with no sign of her arrival.

Laura is sitting in her usual place, near Nori and behind Kid Gladiator. Julian is over in the corner, but if she turns her head slightly, she can see him. She finds herself glancing often, in a kind of awe. It's hard for her to believe what has transpired. A few times he catches her looking.

"I think she's not gonna show," Nori says. She turns to Laura. "We need to talk. You wanna grab a coffee with me before my shift?"

"Uhh—" Laura is saved from a response from the door bursting open and a very flakey Paige Guthrie stomping into the room, skin peeling from every angle to a kind of nightmarish effect. She's wearing a weird hooded cloak thing.

"Let's get started! Everyone pile up the assignment on my desk here, _now_," she announces, as if she is not at all late.

There is a scramble to reach her desk, since she can be really picky about people 'not turning things in at the beginning of class'. Laura allows herself to get shoved aside, so she ends up at the outskirts of the crowd with Julian.

"Nori wants to fix things," she whispers urgently.

He hesitates. "That's great."

"She _hates _you," she reminds him.

"I know." He pauses. "That a problem?"

"Well, yeah." She hesitates. "If she wants me to be her roommate again—"

"This isn't the best place for this conversation," he whispers.

"We're meeting after class," she replies.

Julian closes his eyes. "Do what you need to," he says stiffly, but he reaches out and brushes his fingertips against hers. Then it's her turn to add her assignment to the pile, and then shuffle back to her desk. Ms. Guthrie glares at Julian, the last person holding a paper.

"Why do you still have yours, huh? Were you _plagiarizing?" _

"Do I look like I have a printer on me?" Julian counters.

"Don't be smart with me!" she snaps, snatching his assignment away. "Ten points off for suspected plagiarism and lateness."

"You're fucking kidding," he blurts.

Ms. Guthrie leans over her desk, looking as if she may breathe fire into his face. "_Twenty points. _For being a smart ass. Now _git to the back or ah'll_—or I'll send you to Logan's detention."

Julian turns and heads back to his seat, his fists tightly clenched and his teeth gritted. A few people start to snicker—Nori included—but that attracts Ms. Guthrie's eye, and they all shut up quickly. Laura feels bad for him, since it was her fault he was the very last in line.

**…**

_**3:25 pm  
>Outside Mutant Literature<strong>_

After class, Laura waits in the hallway for Nori. She sees Julian pass—looking very disgruntled—and almost stops him to apologize, but by then her friend has found her…and is grinning widely.

"That was _awesome!" _Nori exclaims, before Laura can say anything. "I _love _Miss Guthrie! She's probably the most sensible person in this place. I mean—if it had been like Broo or something…I'd be upset. But right now, she's just _so_ cool."

"Right," Laura manages. "You wanted to grab coffee?"

"Yeah," Nori says, her smile fading a little. "It's—it's been a while. I know I kind of flew off the handle at you…but I've been thinking, a lot. I mean…who am I to get mad for kissing him, right?"

"Right," Laura says again.

"Everyone has their strange weaknesses," she continues. "And I'm getting over it. I think we can be friends again."

"Really?" she asks hopefully.

Nori nods. "Let's just catch up."

**…**

_**3:30 pm  
>Hallways<strong>_

"_Please give those back!"_ a familiar, squeaky voice shouts. From the next corridor.

Julian—who is heading to his room—pauses. He knows exactly what's happening, and who's doing it: Glob Herman is stealing Broo's glasses. He knows because he used to lead him and a few of the other boys on their destructive shenanigans. Broo is a prime target, seeing as he's descended from a line of parasitic alien scum.

Briefly he thinks about joining the action, then dismisses the thought. He still thinks Broo shouldn't be here, but after watching Glob Herman crawl back to Quire for leadership after his hiatus, he really doesn't think much of the other boy either. He's not desperate anymore…not desperate for anything that will make him feel. He's found other things lately.

He's reaching for his doorknob with his mind when he hears it—Quire's nasally tones.

"_You disgust me," _he says, in a tone full of superiority. _"You limit yourself to please others. You're a waste of mutant. You have unlimited potential. You could _own _this place…and yet you content yourself to be dressed up like a little doll." _

Julian's lip curls slightly, and he turns his head in the direction of the voices. What the hell is Quire trying to start here? Being mad about the gut-parasite living amongst them is one thing, but _encouraging _him to turn on them?

He looks at his doorknob, then drops his books on the floor and heads towards the sources of the noise, rolling up his sleeves. He doesn't even think about the fact that he doesn't have Laura's psychic immunity-thing anymore. He _does _stop, however, when he rounds the corner and the hallway is empty.

_**WHUD!**_

"_Please…stop it!" _Broo moans.

Julian swallows and looks around, his eyebrows drawing together. The corridor is definitely empty. After a moment of hesitation he heads down it and peers around the corner again. Nothing. He begins to feel unnerved, since he can hear scuffling sounds of a struggle. Almost like he still has Laura's hearing.

_No way, _he thinks.

"_**AHHHH!" **_Broo shouts. He hears laughter. Annoyed now, he runs around four more corners, then is suddenly in the middle of the skirmish.

"Hey—cut it out!" he snaps, grabbing Glob Herman's fist as it comes down to punch Broo in the face again. Surprisingly, he succeeds, and the other boy is thrown off balance. Quire's eyes narrow in his direction. "What the hell are _you_ doing here?" His scalp is very prickly-looking, signs that his hair is already starting to come back.

"Preventing a disaster," Julian replies, glaring at the other boy. "Are you off your freakin' rocker? He's a _brood alien. _You don't play your mind games with him."_  
><em>  
>Broo looks up at his savior and adjusts his glasses, not sure what is happening. He's used to being on the other end of that glare.<p>

"Well, maybe if he goes _off_ then Wolverine will stop it with his half-baked ideas," Quire says smugly. "You ever think of strategy, Keller? Or is that beyond what you can handle? You give new meaning to the term _'all brawn and no brain'_."

"I've already trashed you three times this week, Quire, you stupid fuck," Julian says.

"With borrowed powers," the other boy says coolly. "Me, on the other hand—"

"Are you _seriously_ going to ignore the time you hopped up on Kick?"

Quire pauses, then smirks slowly. "For a sore loser, Keller, you sure do like to pick impossible battles."

"What?" Julian is distracted.

The other boy looks pleased. "I'm talking about you and Kinney. She really hates you, you know. Thinks you're like something she stepped in."

"Nice try," he says, but he feels a little unnerved. Quire's basically the second-strongest telepath on the planet. What if he's telling the truth?

"And then there's your little vendetta with me," Quire continues. "You just thought it yourself…but you're wrong. I'm _the _strongest telepath in the world…maybe in the universe. How the hell do you think you have a chance against me? All you can do is push matter around."

Julian feels his doubts growing. A hand grabs at his sleeve, and he glances down at it. It's small, and scaly, and brown, and has two fingers. Beyond that is Broo's wedge-shaped head, fascinatingly ugly, his enormous red eyes luminous. He opens his mouth, revealing fangs.

"Don't listen to him!" he says in a squeaky voice.

"I _wasn't,_" Julian says, annoyed. "Let go of my arm, freak. And Quire…you get the fuck out of my mind." He raises a finger, which glows at the tip.

His finger suddenly disappears…along with the rest of his hand.

He stumbles backward and falls onto his behind, staring at the stump of his wrist with a cold knotted feeling. "Fuck!" he yelps, his voice high-pitched and strangled. "Fuck, oh fuck, oh _fuck_—"

"Think about _that,_" Quire says, folding his arms. Broo looks at Julian. "Your hands are still there! He's trying to confuse you."

Julian closes his eyes, still feeling shaky. Then he feels a surge of anger—real anger, real _burning _anger, that Quire would dare to mess around with him like this. With _anyone_ like this. He opens his eyes.

"What—" the other boy starts to say, but he's airborne, his fist heading straight for his face.

**…**

_**3:30 pm  
>The Grindstone Café <strong>_

"So, what have you been doing?" Nori asks, leaning forward in her seat. "I mean—besides almost dying because Keller took your healing factor."

"Oh, you know me…this and that," Laura says, after spending a moment of trying to mentally summarize the latest crazy period in her life (and failing miserably). "Dying was totally the highlight of it all. How about you?"

Nori shrugs. "Homework. And…David and I talked." She looks down slightly, and Laura feels bad. Even though he's still a part of their group, she knows that he and her friend have not been together for a while now…or even on speaking terms. "How is he?"

"I don't really know," she says. "I don't think he knows that himself."

"Makes you long for old age, doesn't it?" Laura picks up her coffee mug and blows on it. "Apparently things get easier with experience."

"Probably you just get too tired to care," Nori says. She rubs her face with her gauntlet-covered hands, then smiles. "At least he's alive, right?"

"Right." Laura takes a sip of her coffee and wrinkles her nose, almost dropping the mug. _**"OUCH!"**_

"Hmmm?" Nori looks at her friend oddly.

"Tha's hoddt." Laura smacks her burnt tongue against the roof of her mouth, then frowns. "Why aren't I healing?" She pauses, then winces and grabs her head.

**…**

_**3:45 pm  
>Hallway<strong>_

"Hellion!"

Julian doesn't respond, too busy holding the struggling boy's head under the surface of the water. His heart is pounding very quickly, his breathing coming short; he is in the heat of the moment, watching his enemy flounder and gurgle. He doesn't break out of it until someone grabs the back of his shirt and physically rips him away—and slams him into the metal stall wall. _**"HELLION!" **_Logan roars in his face, absolutely livid. "You have to _three_ to calm down, or I'm going to stab you in the throat. One."

"Wha—" Julian blinks, then looks at the toilet, over the edge of which Quentin Quire is draped, his head just starting to come to the surface, absolutely drenched in water. Both boys gasp, one from oxygen deprivation, the other from surprise.

"There is _no_ place for this kinda behavior here!" Logan rants, his fingers tight on his student's throat. "You are utterly fuckin' grounded! I'm _this _close to expellin' you from the school, you hear me you depraved, murderous little _shit?_"

"Murderous?" Julian asks, still puzzled. Quire sputters. "….tried to kill me…" and points at him with a shaking finger. "…fucking animal…twisted…can't…c-can't see…"

Logan glares at his target. "_Look _at me. I'm goin' to let you go. But if you even glance in Quire's direction…"

"No, no," Julian says, shaking his head slightly. He's getting a massive headache. Reaching up, he rubs his eyes with the heel of his hand…and stops as he sees the claws.

"Oh, fuck," he says.

Logan looks down too, and his eyebrows raise.

**…**

_**3:47 pm  
>The Grindstone café <strong>_

Laura suddenly claps her hand over her mouth, as she feels her tongue seal up again.

Nori raises her eyebrows. "You okay there?"

The other girl nods slowly, her forehead wrinkling. Then she shakes her head. "I've got to see Professor McCoy when I get back…but I'm sure I'll live. What were you saying about majors?"

"Oh, it wasn't important." Her friend waves her hand. "I should probably get going here—I start in ten minutes, and I forgot my badge so I have to beg a new one off Luna. She can be stingy, that one."

"Not necessarily a bad quality."

"Not at all." Nori smiles. "I _missed _you, Laura. We shouldn't let anyone get between us again."

"Agreed," Laura says.

"Who are you rooming with now?" her friend asks.

She hesitates. "Logan found me a room alone," she lies.

"Oh, lucky!" Nori makes a face. "I got put up with that _shark girl._ She's kind of weird…and really pushy. If she leaves, do you want to come back?"

"Hell yes," Laura says effortlessly. "Wouldn't miss the chance for the world."

"Good." Nori grins. "I'm glad. This was fun, getting back to the pre-Keller days. Honestly…I understand about kind of losing your head for a minute, I do….but _really. _Chalk it up to insanity and move past it."

Laura feels very uneasy. "Of course," she says, grinning. "Have a good shift…let me know if you want to hang out again."

"I'll text you," Nori promises.

**…**

_**6:15 pm  
>Julian's (and Laura's Temporary) Room<strong>_

Laura finally heads for the room, having spent the last hour or so walking around Westchester village and trying to make sense of the whole Nori situation…and the whole Julian issue. She's not even ready to deal with the thoughts of death…or the brief mortality-scare she'd had today, when she'd burnt her tongue and it hadn't healed.

She feels very tired, and decides maybe a nap will help…but when she enters the room, she immediately senses that it's occupied. Julian is on the bed, twiddling his thumbs.

"We need to talk," he says, looking at her immediately.

Laura feels relief. "So you think it's a mistake too."

"Obviously," he says, sitting up. "The switch already _happened. _Did you—"

Her hopes sink. "Oh. The power-thing."

"Yeah. What were _you_ talking about?"

"Nevermind." Laura throws down her messenger bag and sits down in the chair with a sigh. "I need a drink," she says.

"Tell me about it." Julian hesitates. "You're probably going to hear about something I did today…something bad." He looks nervous.

She looks at him, her eyebrows raised. This is interesting. He's actually afraid of what she will think. "Go on..." she encourages. What could he possibly have done that he'd consider 'bad'?"

Julian looks down at his hands. "I tried to kill Quire," he says.

Laura stares at him. "How?"

"By drowning him in a toilet," he says. Pause. "Apparently. I don't remember much."

She leans forward. "You are _so_ hot right now," she says.

He glances at her. "You're not…upset?"

"I'm upset that you _failed,_" she says. "But that…oh my god. I wish I could have been there. Did he scream? Did he—" she stops. "Wait a minute. How did you even get close to him?"

"Your powers," he says grimly.

Laura's lips purse. "But—we _fixed _that."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Julian shakes his head. "Professor McCoy explained it all to me and Logan, when I had your claws out. Something about 'muscle memory'. He thought that whatever Hope did changed our DNA…and our bodies are never going to forget."

"I stopped healing earlier," Laura says slowly.

"Maybe there's more to it, then," he replies. "He wants to see both of us tomorrow, at ten in the morning. Something about tests."

"This is not what I need right now." She gets to her feet and buries her face in her hands. She hears a _creak _from the bed, and then he's touching her elbows. "We'll be okay," he says. She looks up, confused. Here's that side of him again, that no one else seems to see…and that—if she wants to keep seeing it—will apparently have to lose everyone else for.

"I'm going to go for a shower," she says in a flat voice. He leans over and presses a kiss to her hair; she stiffens, but doesn't push him away. After a moment she heads for the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her—more as a statement than as an actual barrier, seeing as they can both break locks quite effortlessly.

**…**

_**6:35 pm  
>Julian's (and Laura's Temporary) Room<strong>_

Apparently, Laura is taking a long shower, since she's still in the bathroom with the water running about half an hour later. Julian continues to lie on the bed, one arm tucked behind his head as he thinks over recent events.

He's still not quite certain what happened with Quire. His experience of the situation had been a mindless reaction to being furious, like someone who kicks something they're frustrated with. Except that he could have _killed_ the other boy. And this time, he wouldn't have been defending anyone from certain death. There would be no excuses.

Julian isn't sure what to think about this. The experience had felt satisfying. He feels no guilt for his actions, either. What if Quire _had_ died? Would he feel remorse then? Or would the satisfaction intensify? He feels unnerved. He's never had to deal with doubting his own intent in this way. He's used to feel conflicted—especially lately, around Laura—but this is a very basic internal struggle. And it's made even more black and white by the thought that he is literally in a school run by super heroes.

He shakes his head slightly, deciding he doesn't want to think about it anymore. Then he remembers something else he has to ponder over—what Laura had said just earlier, in response to his announcement that they needed to talk. Obviously, she had thought he was rethinking the whole dating thing. She had looked so relieved…and so disappointed that it wasn't that. Again he feels doubt. Is he wrong? Does Laura actually not think of him that way—and he pushed her into it? He'd thought it was mutual—he had been so convinced that she was just making excuses because she was scared of—of what, exactly? What does he think Laura's afraid of? Commitment? Happiness? Or—

_Knock knock knock, _on the front door. Very soft. Kind of low down. Julian looks in that direction, thinks about not answering it, then gets up and heads over, then pulls the door open a crack (remembering that he needs to be careful to hide her things). "Yeah?" he asks…then sees who it is.

Broo, and Idie. The first is holding a box with his scaly, clawed fingers and looking up with his luminous red eyes—hidden behind his dorky glasses. Julian feels annoyed. He's always hated people who wear glasses and don't need them—just do it to look smart_. _His eyes slowly turn to Idie, who is standing with her hands clasped behind her back, and a smile on her face. She's kind of pretty, but seriously weird.

"We came to say thank you!" Broo says enthusiastically. "For saving me earlier. I was quite frightened—Glob Herman is _so_ much bigger than you, you see, and at least when you were bullying me, you didn't let him _punch _me—_you_ always did it. Much less painful." There is a small bandage over the bridge of his nose. Or muzzle. _Whatever. _

Julian's nose wrinkles. "I didn't _bully _you," he says sharply, even though that's an apt description of his activities over the last six months. "And I wasn't _saving _you. I was mad at Quire."

"Still!" Idie says, beaming and putting a hand on Broo's shoulder. "It was very decent of you, and reminds me that God's will exists even amongst us monsters."

Julian feels a surge of anger. "I'm _not_ a monster!" His hand balls into a fist, and for a moment he is tempted to teach Idie a lesson about forcing her views on other people. Then his fingers relax. Whatever he is, he's never hit girls—except for Laura, when they were grappling with each other—and he's not about to start now.

Broo holds up the box. "We baked you cookies!" he says, his voice squeaky with excitement.

He pauses, not sure how to react to this. On one hand, he really doesn't want to eat _anything _made by an overgrown intestinal parasite. But both of them look so happy, and he's just been called a monster himself, so matter-of-factly—

The bathroom door opens, and everyone watches Laura step out, bundled up in a towel. "What kind are they?" she asks, eyeing the box.

"Oatmeal raisin," Idie says, beaming at Laura now.

Laura reaches out, under his arm. "Give. Thank you."

"Laura…" Julian gives her a warning look. "He's a—"

"I don't care," she says.

The box is transferred, and finally he shrugs. "Okay," he says, his forehead wrinkled. He glances at their two visitors. "Well…thanks. I guess."

"No, thank _you_," Idie says. "Both of you…for saving Broo, and Laura for your wonderful tutoring. God bless you."

"I think this is the start of a long and beautiful friendship!" Broo announces.

"No it's not," Julian says firmly. "Go away now." He closes the door, locks it, and looks at Laura again. She's eating a cookie with a pleased look. "These are 'eally good," she says, her mouth full.

"They're probably full of brood-eggs," he says snidely.

She swallows and grins. "Everyone has a secret ingredient." Pause. "So…there was a particular _reason_ that you tried to kill Quire, huh? You didn't tell me that."

"Wasn't important." He leans against the door and closes his eyes. "I didn't do it to protect the parasite. I did it because Quire was doing something really dangerous."

"By doing what _you_ used to do?" Laura asks, arching her eyebrows.

"No. He was encouraging him to go full-out body-snatching Brood." He pauses, then looks at her, his expression serious. "Why does no one else but me care that we're keeping something in the school that's just a bomb waiting to go off?"

Laura lowers the box of cookies. "We're all bombs waiting to go off," she says. "All of us. Even you. That's why we're in a school of our own, remember? Because the public doesn't want us."

"That's not true!" he protests.

She gives him a flat look. "Yes it is. Any single one of us could lose it and do a lot of damage. Kill a lot of people. Especially me. Especially _you._ Treating Broo like he's any different…it's like the pot calling the kettle black." She pauses. "He's kind of cute…_and _he bakes incredible cookies."

Julian reaches up and rubs his face with his hands. "I didn't used to be…something that could…go off."

She says nothing, but holds out the box.

He looks through his fingers. "No thanks."

She shakes the box slightly, gives him a determined look. Finally he rolls his eyes and takes one, eyeing it in disgust…but it _does _smell good. A few moments later he's eating it, parasites be damned, and finds it to be delicious. Laura gives him a smug smile, then puts away the box on the shelf.

He spends the rest of the evening in mostly quiet contemplation, trying to put together several seemingly separate concepts: his feelings about almost killing Quire, his hatred and fear of Broo, Laura, and the cookie.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Luna: glad to hear, more to come! Baka: None of that has happened in this story. Yet. :)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<br>**

* * *

><p><em><strong>10:11 am<br>Outside Professor McCoy's Office**_

"Are you _sure_ he said ten?" Laura asks, her arms folded. Her head has been aching all morning, and she'd confirmed what was causing it when – while taking a shower - the water droplets had begun to float in a green mist around her.

"Yep," Julian says. He keeps glancing at her, distracted by how good she smells, and by his fear that she actually isn't interested in him. He'd been too afraid to try touching her last night, so he had let her curl away from him while he lay on his back, eyes open as he stared at the ceiling, his mind humming with his many self-doubts.

She catches him looking and raises her eyebrows. He shrugs. "You look good."

Laura wrinkles her nose. "Thought you wouldn't creep on me even if I paid you, remember?"

Julian rolls his eyes. "You're never going to drop that, are you?"

"No…why would I?" she asks.

He sighs. "You _know_ I…I wasn't…it wasn't a comment about _you, _Laura. I just didn't…know you. I thought you were a bitch at the time."

"And now?" she asks.

He pauses. How _does_ he see her now? "I know you're not," he says.

"Well, doesn't that make me just want to jump your bones," she says sarcastically.

Julian is trying to think of a response when Professor McCoy comes jogging around the corner of the hallway, holding his glasses steady with one giant paw. "So sorry!" he pants, slowing and struggling to free a key from his pocket for the door. "There was an incident – young Kubark challenged Quentin Quire to combat and somehow a portal to hell got opened…_why_ all the trouble in this school seems to focus around those two, I'll never understand." He shakes his head and opens his office door. "Come in…come in and have a seat."

Julian glances at Laura and mouths _'portal to hell?'. _She shrugs. They both enter the office and sink down into the chairs opposite Professor McCoy's desk. He moves to his filing cabinet and ruffles through several folders, then pulls out two and also sits down. "Now, Laura…Julian here has already described for me what happened to him yesterday. Did you experience any repercussions of your own?"

"Yes," Laura says. "I took a sip of coffee and burned my tongue. And it didn't heal for about ten minutes." She pauses. "And I had a really bad migraine all of a sudden."

Professor McCoy raises an eyebrow. "Almost as if your powers had switched again?" he prompts.

Laura nods. "I think we've switched right now," she says.

Julian glances at her. "We have?"

"Can't you tell?" she counters.

He pauses, and thinks about her scent, then nods slowly.

Professor McCoy pushes a paperclip towards Laura on the desk. "Lift this for me, please."

"Oh boy, now _you_ get to do this," Julian says, unable to help sounding gleeful. Over time, he's come to _hate_ the paperclip experiments. They always seem to go wrong.

Laura rolls her eyes at him, then looks back at Professor McCoy. "I've never lifted anything on purpose. Well, except myself."

He blinks. "You mean—_flight?_"

"Yes," she says, nodding slightly.

Professor McCoy looks impressed. "That is a _very_ advanced telekinetic concept, Laura. If you have achieved that…surely you can lift this paperclip."

"That's what he always says," Julian whispers. "And then something blows up and he tells you that you need to practice more. _Every freakin' time._"

"Julian, please," Professor McCoy says, mildly irritated. "Laura, if you could do this for me…"

"I'll try," she says. She reaches out and cups her hand in the air, rotates it slightly…and the paperclip – glowing green – rises gently into the air, and into her palm. Just like that. Julian stands up. "That's not—she doesn't have my power levels!" he snaps defensively.

Professor McCoy sighs. "This is _not_ a competition, Julian. I merely wanted Laura to confirm that she is indeed telekinetic right now…and she has. We will need to perform some tests in my laboratory…a karyotype, to begin with."

"A karyowhatsit?" Julian asks, distracted.

"To examine your chromosomes for changes. I suspect there have been some genetic modifications." Professor McCoy picks up the two folders and heads toward the door again. "Please follow me."

**…**

_**11:53 am  
>Professor McCoy's Laboratory<strong>_

"I have a theory," Professor McCoy says, to both Laura and Julian, who are now standing in his laboratory, having endured various blood tests, scans and readings. Beside the Professor stands Rogue, in her green-and-white X-uniform, her auburn hair in loose waves around her shoulders. She looks serious.

"Before I divulge that theory, however, I would like to try one more experiment." Professor McCoy gestures to Rogue. "May she absorb your powers, Laura?"

"Just mine?" Laura asks.

"Nothing bad will happen," Rogue promises. "Ah'm not going to do anything but see what you can do right now. No memories or anything."

"Okay." The former holds out her hand; removing her glove, the latter presses their fingertips together and then pulls away. "Oh," she says, then looks at Professor McCoy. "You're right. She _does _have both_."_

"Both what?" Julian asks, then his eyes widen. "You mean—both sets of powers?"

Rogue hesitates. "Between you, yes. Ah think you're sharin' them somehow."

"Shit," Laura says, looking alarmed.

"You can probably learn to manage it," Professor McCoy interrupts. "Perhaps even to block this connection out. But – keep in mind – there is no greater power than teamwork. If you learn to use this to your advantage –"

"I can't spend the rest of my life like this!" Laura snaps. She looks at Julian. "What if you take my healing when I _need_ it again? Or if you're flying and suddenly you can't anymore?"

He swallows.

"Both of you have defensive abilities," Rogue reminds them. "He can shield himself and you can heal. If you learn each other's powers—"

"I'm tired of hearing that we need to learn to work together!" Laura explodes, her eyes flashing green. "We already _are_ fine with each other! We've practiced! Sometimes it just isn't enough! We need a _permanent _solution."

"I will keep studying your genetic codes," Professor McCoy promises. "In the meantime…I think it might be a good thing to have Rachel analyze your connection. She might be able to advice on some mental techniques to control or even stop the transferring." He pauses. "I believe she's out of the school today…so come to my office again tomorrow, and we'll finish our analysis."

**…**

_**12:15 pm  
>Cafeteria<strong>_

"I am so fucking _done _with this week," Laura grumbles, as they enter the cafeteria to find a big line for the food. Julian reaches out to touch her back, but the line advances and she moves away before his fingers make contact. His hand drops to his side.

"We'll be okay," he says.

"If you say so," she says, hers full of sarcasm. "Thanks, Julian. I feel _a lot _better."

He folds his arms. "At least we still _have _powers, right?"

"Right," she says. "Because I absolutely love being a mutant."

"Oh, come on." He glares at her. "You're in a mood, aren't you?"

"When aren't I? Oh – wait – you decided I'm _not_ a bitch." She looks away. He seethes.

"Dammit, Laura!" He reaches out and grabs her wrist; she rotates it out of his grasp and gives him a bitter-looking smile. "You sure know how to make a girl feel special, don't you?"

The line advances. His eyebrows draw together. "What do you _want?_"

"I don't know anymore," she says, looking at the menu. "Great. _Sausage jambalaya_. Who the hell designs the dishes for this place?"

He doesn't answer, racking his brain for a way to atone for the sins of the past, because he knows she _does _have a point – he didn't treat her well before. The line advances again, and now he's looking at the tired-looking cook in the eye, as a steaming plate of what looks like regurgitated muck on a tray is shoved onto the high counter in front of him. He takes it and carries it toward what has become their usual table, then notices that Laura hasn't followed him. She's heading toward Sofia's table. He hesitates for a few moments, very uncertain because there's no way he'll be welcome there…and the way Laura's acting, he's not sure even _she_ wants him there.

Finally he decides that perhaps – if he makes an effort and shows he can sit with her friends and not be a dick – she'll be impressed. He moves over to the animated table (which is busy greeting Laura) and clears his throat.

The noises immediately stop. Eight pairs of eyes look up at him, most with open hostility.

"Um, hi," he says.

Nori is the first to speak. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?!"

He steels himself. "I—"

"Dude, you're _not_ welcome!" Santo interrupts. "We don't want _murderers _here."

"Sofia has enough problems without you bothering her!" Nori adds. "So does _Laura._ Right?"

"Guys—" Sofia says apprehensively. "Can't we just—"

"No, we _can't _'just'!" the blue haired girl snaps, electricity crackling around her. "If you don't _leave—_"

Laura remains silent. Cessily glares at him with quite obvious dislike. David gets to his feet. "I think you'd better go," he says, in his quiet, serious way.

Julian isn't sure how to feel. Some of the reactions he'd expected…but a few of them hurt. People who used to be _his_ friends…part of the reason he'd been so nasty to the whole table, of late. He'd felt like they stabbed him in the back, abandoning him when he was down.

After a moment, he turns away and heads for the cafeteria doors with his food. He'll be damned if he's going to sit at a table alone. Toad catches him at the door, broom and pan in hand. "_**HEY!" **_he bellows, point at him with his pan and baring his teeth. _**"NO PLATES OUTSIDE THE CAFETERIA!"**_ The pan shakes slightly, from his rage.

The whole cafeteria has turned to look at him, of course. He considers throwing the plate at Toad, then thinks better of it—he's not in the mood to deal with Logan again, so shortly after the Quire incident. He moves over to the tray receptacle, slides his tray into it, then heads out the doors again, jamming his hands into his pockets and trying not to pay attention to the muffled laughter and whispers behind him.

**…**

_**12:22 pm  
>The fountain<strong>_

Julian's sitting on the edge of the fountain – looking at the school gates – when he hears the front door close, and he knows it's Laura, by her distinctive vital signs. He closes his eyes and hangs his head. "What do you want?" he asks, even though he can smell the food she's bringing from here.

"To bring you this," she says, moving down the stairs toward him. "I felt bad."

"You were part of it," he says, gritting his teeth.

Laura reaches him. "I wasn't _yelling_ things at you." She holds out the tray; he ignores it. She bites her lip and sighs. "I didn't—I didn't know what to do," she admits. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," he forces himself to say.

She sets the tray down on the ledge of the fountain, then sits beside him. "Well…what did you expect? You kind of…deserve it."

He glares at her, and she can see signs that he has been crying – suspicious wet marks, on his shirt and under one eye. "Some of those people were my best friends!" he says fiercely. "They all ditched me when I got hurt! What do _you_ expect, Laura? Was I supposed to act like that was okay?!"

Her eyebrows draw together. She hadn't really thought about that part, never having paid much attention to his friends at the school…even when they sort of joined the New X-men's group during all the attacks and the move to Utopia…and then coming back here. It had been a trying time for all, and it had just sort of _happened. _She hadn't been very conscious of Julian either for a while. He'd been somewhat annoying and unpleasant before the dissolution of the Xavier school, but had only really become hostile after his injuries on Utopia. She'd assumed that he chased everyone away.

"I'm sorry," she says again, but it seems inadequate. He says nothing, just looks down again with a kind of lost and angry expression. She hesitates, then reaches out and puts her hand on his knee. "I didn't know. You never said anything."

"What _should_ I have said?" he asks, with bitter amusement. "Something like 'oh, hey, you don't know me…but everyone left because I'm a lame cripple now…want to hang out'?"

Laura closes her eyes. "I don't know. I'm not an expert at these matters…considering that things usually just grow back for me."

"Yeah, that _does _rock." He looks at his hands and flexes them slightly. "These are about the only things I have going for me now." He pauses. "I thought I had _you_ too, but…"

"Give me time," she says stiffly. "I – I told you – I don't think we're good for each other…and I have no clue what I'm even doing…but I came out here, because I felt bad."

He says nothing. She looks at the tray. "You want this? It's actually pretty good."

"How'd you get it past Toad?" he asks.

Laura shrugs. "He's scared of me. I just give him this _look, _and he goes right back to doing whatever the fuck he was doing."

"Wish I was that lucky," he says. She picks up the tray and passes it to him; he accepts it and begins to eat. She watches him out of the corner of her eye, feeling a little shy to be doing so. She remembers him kissing her yesterday in the garage, and thinks about how it had felt. Mostly awkward. Very uncertain. But there had been something there, something she can't quite describe, but it had been enough for her to decide that maybe – just maybe – it was worth taking a risk. She's never bothered with the relationship stuff the other kids have been up to, learning from examples around her – Nori and David, Laurie and Josh, Cessily and Kevin – that they simply weren't worth it. They always seemed to provide a brief period of happiness, followed by arguments…and broken friendships…and hurt.

But whatever she had felt yesterday had seemed to argue against this concept. She had decided to see how things play out, and to leave – for a little while, at least – if the overall outcome is poor. Seeing Julian's pain at her behavior makes her wonder if she might not be the one to fuck things up first.

"I kind of got irritated when I got out here," Julian says, breaking the silence as he finishes his food. He gives her a dry look. "I couldn't fly. That's what I usually do when I have a bad day."

Laura feels guilty, because she's the one who has the power right now. She sighs. He puts the tray down. "I'll get over it," he says, looking at her now. "It's not your fault."

"I'll…I'll say something to the others, if you want," she says, her tone full of hesitation.

He shakes his head. "No. They clearly don't want me…and I don't really want _them_, either. Some of them hurt me, and some of them I've just never liked much. Sofia, yes. I still like her…not as much as before…but I wouldn't mind her friendship." He reaches around her waist and puts his hand on her hip. "And you, you're okay, I guess. But—"

"Oh really," Laura interrupts. "I'm _okay_?"

He grins, and she realizes he's teasing her. "Well, _now_ you are. The others…Nori…David...my old friends…I'm never going to like them. I can't."

"It's too bad one of those people is my best friend," she says flatly.

Julian shrugs. They say nothing for a while. Laura starts to feel awkward. What if he tries to kiss her again? She doesn't have her senses right now, so she can't just read his vital signs to tell if he's releasing pheromones. Her heart beats in her throat, and she starts to think wildly of ways to escape the situation. Going to sleep? Nope, it's noon—and he might take it as a suggestion. Eating? Already done. Studying? She announced she was all caught up last night. _God damn it, _she thinks, closing her eyes. Then she finds one that will work – and possibly please him – and she almost jumps up with excitement. "Do you want me to take you flying?"

"Huh?" he asks, startled out of his own thoughts. He'd been thinking over the situation, about how Cessily and Santo had left him when he got hurt. To be more precise, they simply hadn't _been _there—they only visited him once in the infirmary, and he'd been out of his mind with painkillers and apparently quite unpleasant, according to Dr. Rao – who had lectured him. And then there had been the whole thing with Omega Sentinel. This thought led to thoughts about Quire again.

"I said, do you want me to take you flying?" Laura suggests again.

"Oh." He pauses, thinking about this. It won't be the same…but she seems so excited, her heart racing and her eyes full of pleading…so he nods, trying to look enthusiastic. _At least if she drops us…I'll heal._

"Okay." She gets up and holds out her hand. He takes it, unsure. He usually picks up people by their waist, but he can't say that it is strictly necessary, since actually it's his mind doing the work. And if Laura's little paperclip demonstration in Professor McCoy's office is any indicator…she might have a better handle on telekinesis than _he _does.

They stand in place for a few moments. Then Laura looks at him expectantly. "Why aren't I flying?"

He blinks. "Did you _think_ about flying?"

"Oh, no I didn't." She rolls her eyes.

"I could shove you out a window again," he suggests.

Laura actually considers this, so he rolls _his _eyes. "That was a joke."

"Oh." She kicks the ground. "Dammit. I want to fly."

"Try pushing off the ground."

Laura gives him a sharp look. "Like an airplane. You're a genius. Come on!" She suddenly breaks into a run, and he stumbles after her. They race down the driveway – the gate looms in view and Laura isn't stopping. He swallows. "Laura—" but there's no need, she suddenly jumps…and they are airborne, him kicking his legs slightly because it feels _really _weird.

"_**LAURA!" **_he shouts, because he can feel his hand slipping out of hers. She lets go of him – he almost screams instinctively – and then she loops back and grabs him under the armpits. "Relax," she says, grinning. Julian feels unnerved, and mentally resolves to never screw around with passengers again…because he has definitely been guilty of that. The sensation is pants-shittingly-frightening, and he feels no other human being should ever be subjected to it, no matter how much of a dick they are. Well, maybe Quire. But no one else.

"This is so _fun!_" she exclaims, as they begin to move again, much faster this time. "I wish flying was my original power! Much better than boring-old-healing…all it does is mean you're _guaranteed _to get people shooting at you."

Julian looks at the ground passing below them, at breakneck speed. He wishes he was the one dictating where they go, but Laura's obviously enjoying this, so he says nothing. He hears something and looks up – and sees two familiar figures floating in the air: Kid Gladiator and his bodyguard, Warbird.

"_**SALUTATIONS!" **_Kubark bellows.

Laura shrieks, and suddenly they are falling. Julian has a massive headache for a moment…and feels the telekinesis surging through him, like it had been there all along, screaming silently for his attention. He catches himself, then swoops down and scoops up Laura, one hand around the waist and the other under her knees. As he zooms back up to their previous height, he hopes that Kubark won't suggest some crazy kind of fight right now, since he won't heal.

"Hey yourself," he calls back. Laura cringes against him, burying her face in his shoulder and shuddering.

"Out for a fly! There is no better way to stay sharp, eh, Warbird?" Kubark looks expectantly at his bodyguard. She nods stiffly, one hand at her side – holding the hilt of a dagger. Julian almost rolls his eyes, but doesn't want Kubark to take it the wrong way.

"Yeah, sure is…great," he says lamely.

"The weather is glorious." Kubark gestures around him, grinning. Against his purple-grey skin and solid red goggles, his teeth look very white. "We should do battle."

_God dammit, _Julian thinks. He shrugs. "I would…but, you know. I've got Laura here."

Kubark looks at her. She peers back at him.

"Ah yes, the concubine," he says. "Hello, concubine. I thought you were dead. Did some idiot reanimate your corpse?"

"No, she did it herself," Julian says.

Kubark looks impressed. "_Self-_reanimation! She might redeem herself yet. I can't say I can do that…but then again I simply haven't tried. Little earthlings cannot kill me, especially not with their tiny firearms."

"Nor _will_ you try," Warbird warns stiffly. Julian glances at her and feels sympathy. It must be absolutely maddening to be a bodyguard to someone like Kid Gladiator.

Kubark waves his hand dismissively. "I don't care what you think," he says, sounding annoyed. "We went over this already."

"You are not to engage in any more battle today," Warbird warns, ignoring him. "Wolverine has already threatened to dismiss you from his empire. Imagine your father's disappointment."

"My father this, my father that!" Kubark snaps at her. "I can't do _anything _for fear of disappointing that pompous old windbag! I need to win my own glory if I am to take his place—as I _will_."

Julian thinks for a moment that this sounds strangely familiar…and then realizes that this was basically himself three years ago, back when he was an heir to a billion-dollar fortune. He feels a little more understanding toward Kubark in general. "We could…um, race," he suggests.

Kubark considers this, rubbing his chin. Then he looks at Warbird. "What about that? Would _that_ be acceptable to you? I find it odd that you have the word 'War' in your name when you hate it so much. More like _Peace_bird, you stupid harlot."

Warbird's expression does not change, but she is silent for a few moments. "The span of this field only," she says finally, gesturing across the property. "You will not leave my sight, understood?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Kubark looks back at Julian. "Put down the concubine and we'll begin."

"Yes, please put me down," Laura begs.

He almost laughs, but he swoops down to the ground again and places her by the fountain. She grabs him by his tie. "For the love of God, keep him away from me!" she begs, her eyes full of fear.

Julian nods. "I'm going to let him win," he says seriously.

She looks surprised. "What, really?"

"You heard him. He needs to prove himself." Julian glances up at his waiting opponent. "He's really just a kid. I think he's a bit younger than us."

"Careful, Keller. You might gain the '_defender of the aliens'_ title if you keep this up."

Julian shakes his head, then soars back up to where Kubark is floating alongside Warbird. "I thought you had – what do you savages call it – chickened out!" the boy shouts.

"No, the—concubine—was begging me not to do it," Julian says.

"…_heard that!" _he hears Laura yell from the ground, and he kicks himself. Of course, she can super-hear again. How stupid of him.

Kubark gestures to Warbird. "_She_ will stay here, and announce the winner. Right?"

His bodyguard gives a single nod. "Remember. Not out of sight."

"Speak no more," he orders, then turns to Julian. "All right. On three. Warbird, count."

"One," she says. "Two—"

Kubark is already gone, not having waited for three. Julian rolls his eyes and shoots after him, trying to control his speed. He usually flies at several times above the speed of sound—five has been his highest – but if he does that now, he'll outstrip Kubark, who – while flying very fast – is nowhere near that. He's still gaining too quickly, so when they reach the end of the field he makes a very wide turn, giving the other boy the advantage. Kubark seems to be flying a lot faster now, anyway. There is a loud _**CRACK! **_and a ripple, and then Kid Gladiator whizzes past Warbird.

"_**STOP!" **_she shouts, but Julian can see that this is impossible—Kubark is gone, way out of earshot. He reaches the bodyguard himself and slows down, wincing as Kubark disappears from sight. "Damn," he says.

Warbird closes her eyes. "He is already in trouble. Today he fought with Quentin Quire. He used some artifact he had found in Professor McCoy's laboratory to open a portal, which destroyed the gymnasium." She pauses. "And then he plucked the wax-boy's skull out of his head for a trophy."

Julian's mouth opens. "He _killed_ Glob Herman?" he manages.

"No," Warbird says. "Wolverine made him give it back. They replaced it and the boy was unharmed. Apparently he is immortal. I wish I could say the same for Kubark—I am tired of guarding him." She shakes her head. "Forgive me…I must go."

"Sure," Julian says. He watches as the woman soars after Kubark, flying about fifteen times slower…and feels deep pity. What a horrible job. He shakes his head as well, then descends back to where Laura is waiting anxiously on the ground and lands beside her. "Hey," he says.

"You fly _fast!" _she blurts. "I could barely keep up with what was happening. Where'd Kid Gladiator go?"

"Elsewhere," he says, with a shrug. "I feel bad for his bodyguard. But get _this—_he took out Glob Herman's skull today…and they just put it back…and he's _fine._"

"Why are the stupid ones always immortal?" Laura asks in frustration. "Seriously. Glob Herman? Rockslide? How the _hell_ do they deserve to live forever?"

"Dunno," Julian says. "I don't understand a lot of things about life. Want to go hang out in our room again or something? I'm kind of tired."

She pauses, then remembers she can detect if he's got ulterior motives. A small _sniff_ tells her there are no pheromones present, and so she relaxes. "Sure."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews: Kaos- it's mostly implied by the way that he is never shown with Santo or Cessily anymore. Also, some conflict was shown between them in X-23 #1-3. My stories are mostly interpretive and what I picture is going on. I'm not sure about using Omega in a story...maybe, it would be interesting to explore (probably in this story if I did). And as to Laura's kill count: in this story, people don't know much about her past. She hasn't killed anyone in front of them except the Purifier that she was interrogating on X-force business. Since she has a somewhat normal personality, she doesn't stand out too strongly. This will be addressed later. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>2:00 pm the next day<br>Outside English class**_

Laura is standing in the hallway, gazing at the fateful spot on the floor at which it had all started. The fight. Hope's interference. She feels a ripple of irritation as she thinks of the girl who has literally messed up life as she knows it. Now everything's just confusing and frightening.

"Hi, Laura!" a familiar voice calls, from down the hallway. Turning slightly, she sees Idie heading toward her, both hands clasping a backpack strap. She is smiling widely. "I received a B minus on my last essay."

"Oh," Laura says. "Well, good for you. You earned it."

"With your help." Idie stops in front of her. "I can't thank you enough."

"Then don't even try," she recommends bluntly. "Seriously, don't. I'm just glad to help you out." She hesitates. "I'm trying to counter some bad karma."

Idie frowns. "Karma?" she asks.

"Just some bad things I did before," Laura says, waving her hand dismissively.

"Oh." The other girl looks down. "You mean, you are trying to redeem yourself so you won't go to hell."

"Something like that."

Idie hesitates. "You know that we will all burn anyways, right?"

Laura shrugs. "There are worse things than being on fire." She hears more footsteps approaching, and looks up just in time to see someone who has never failed to creep her out: Eye Boy, otherwise known as Trevor. She shudders. Beside him is another girl that she has never seen before—and just as she is registering this, the newcomer stomps toward her, face contorting.

"You talking about us behind our backs, huh?!" she demands sharply.

Laura gives her a wide-eyed look. "I have literally never seen you before, why—"

"_**RAAWWLL—" **_the girl's eyes turn black, and her teeth sharpen.

"Hey—Iara—" Trevor looks alarmed. "What the—"

She snaps her lengthening jaws in Laura's face. "I smellll _**BLOOD**_."

"Nice to meet you too," the latter says, her eyebrows raising. "What the hell is your deal?"

Trevor winces, all of his eyes narrowing. "She turns into a shark if she…smells…well, you know."

Laura rolls her eyes. "I was wrong. I was _wrong. _This gong-show of a school wasn't batshit insane enough without alien-superman trying to kill me, or people stealing my powers, or a giant island that periodically tries to eat us all. No—of course—_you_ have to exist." She looks at Iara. "I'm on the rag. Thanks for making it local news."

The half-shark, half-human girl pauses…then her nose begins to shorten again, and she covers her mouth. "Oh my god, I am—"

"Forget it," Laura says, annoyed. "So, you're Nori's new roommate?"

Iara nods, still seemingly embarrassed…but her eyes are still black. She takes several steps backward, then runs down the hall. "Hey—_Iara!" _Trevor shouts, then takes off after her. Laura shakes her head and looks at Idie, but before she can say anything, another person skips up to them, clutching his books tightly against his chest.

"Friends!" he says, beaming.

Laura feels the usual unnerving wave of pity that she feels when she looks on her former X-force teammate. He's been reduced to a childlike state, the mirror opposite of his usual serious self. She wishes she could just take him seriously and be annoyed like everyone else is, but she knows that she never can. "Hi, Warren," she says.

"Did you read the wonderful story yet?" he asks. "I couldn't stop myself! I stayed up all night and got to the last chapter. And then I fell asleep. Do you think Ms. Rogue will be angry that I didn't finish it?"

"Were we supposed to read it all?" Idie asks, alarmed. "I didn't!"

"_Gone With the Wind _is over a thousand pages," Laura says. "I'm fairly certain we were only assigned two chapters. Relax." She feels a headache starting up, and she bites her lip. _Dammit, Julian, _she thinks in frustration. Then she wonders what he's doing—and feels slight anxiety. Doesn't he have his weird space-flight-combat class right now?

"I'll be right back," she says absently.

**…**

_**2:02 pm  
>The Grounds<strong>_

Laura reaches the grassy field just as Julian plummets through the final thirty feet, yelling wordlessly at the top of his lungs. She stretches her hand out and catches him mentally, giving him a very dry, unimpressed look. "Not to say I told you so…" she begins.

He lays prone in her grasp for a few moments, then slowly raises his head. "I'm not dead?" he asks, in a small, hysterical voice.

She shakes her head slightly. "You'd probably heal. But that would have fucking hurt. And probably taken an hour or two…splatter, y'know." She makes a fist, and he drops the remaining ten feet to the ground—_**CRUNCH!—**_"Like that, only with more pain. A _lot_ more."

He sits up and rubs the back of his neck. "I think I'm going to drop space-flight," he says hoarsely. Probably because he'd been screaming for the last half-mile down, when he realized his powers weren't coming back.

Laura folds her arms. "That's not enough. We _really_ have to learn to shut this off."

"Agreed." He takes a deep breath, shakes his head. "That was…actually kind of exhilarating. Now that I know I survived."

"It was pretty thrilling from down here too," Laura says, smirking. "You could have died. _Messily, _I might add. It's like a wet dream for me."

He glares at her, but realizes that she is teasing, and waves her off. "Should we see if Rachel Grey is back?"

"Professor McCoy _did_ say today," Laura agrees. She heads toward him and reaches out; he flinches automatically, then sees that she is offering him her hand…and rolling her eyes. He rolls his eyes too, accepts the hand and pulls himself up. "Gotten used to you beating me up."

They start to walk back toward the school. "I seem to remember you repeatedly breaking my nose," Laura says dryly.

He shrugs. "You healed."

"Not on the inside. I am a battered woman."

"Oh, shut up." He shoves her playfully on the shoulder. "You _liked_ it."

"Did not." She tosses her head. "You were annoying. Can't even pack a real punch. Felt like being tickled."

"You just said I battered you," he points out.

"Well…" Laura pauses.

He stops in his tracks. "Are we _flirting?_" he asks, in awe. She stops as well, arches her eyebrows. "Not _anymore_…you awkward creature," she says, closing her eyes. "This whole _school_ is just makes me want to end its misery."

"The whole school?" he asks, distracted.

Laura rolls her eyes. "Nevermind. I'm not telling _you." _

_**BANG!**_

Both of them jump away, not having expected Kubark's sudden arrival. He's smashed into the earth between them, with a grin. Clods of dirt fall down like rain.

"_**YOU LIVE!" **_he barks at Julian, obviously pleased.

"Well…yeah," the latter says, trying to sound like he hadn't doubted it for a minute. "Of course I did."

Laura folds her arms protectively around herself, but she's slightly less frightened of the boy after the race-encounter. He hadn't made any attempts on her life then—or since—and she finds that to be mildly reassuring. Besides, he _did _save her from Kimura.

"Cannonball sent me down to make sure," Kubark says, grinning in a manner that suggests boasting. "He flies _so_ slow—the _public _starships in the Imperial city move faster, and they're over five millennia old! Why would Wolverine ever elect him to teach a class of students who are so clearly his superiors?"

"I'm sure a few of us could use the practice," Julian says.

"_Warren _doesn't have to waste his time on that drivel," Kubark protests, waving a hand in the air.

"Angel knows more about flying then all of you shits put together," Laura says defensively. "He's been an X-man since before most of you were even _born._"

The alien-boy glances at her. "Silence, concubine. Your betters are talking."

Julian doesn't really want to get into another fight right now, but he also knows (from Laura's sharp glance at him) that duty calls. He folds his arms. "Don't talk to her like that."

Kubark raises his eyebrows behind his solid red glasses. "Is that a _challenge?_" he demands.

"My name is _Laura,_ not concubine," Laura speaks up, her voice sharp. "You know, people would like you a heck of a lot better if you stopped treating us like we're all _garbage."_

"This _is_ the planet of savages," Kubark says, matter-of-factly. "Why should I worry about being popular with you grubby little primates? I'm the result of almost half-a-billion more years of evolution! I am superior in _every _sense of the term." He looks smug.

Julian holds out a hand, so Laura won't use the energy building up in her fingertips. She is gritting her teeth. "Let me give you some advice," he says seriously. "When I first came here…I was like you. I thought I was all that…I figured I was better than everyone…but you know something?"

Kubark struggles with himself for a moment, not wanting to admit to being curious. His nose wrinkles. "What?" he asks finally.

Julian closes his eyes. "You push everyone away…and then you're alone." He pauses. "It gets lonely at the top."

"At the _top?_" Laura asks incredulously. "You mean at rock bottom, right?"

Julian shrugs.

Before anyone else can react, another arrival descends out of the sky, this time more gracefully: Warbird, Kubark's body guard. She looks furious, and is huffing and puffing heavily from flying at her top speed for so long.

"_**IMPERIAL PRINCE!" **_she spits. "This is…I _told_ you to slow down. What would I tell your father if you were to break your neck?"

"I am _invincible!" _Kubark snaps back at her. "This earth-rock is hardly a match for my spine. Stop worrying so much and piss off."

"If you continue in this manner, I will be forced to contact Gladiator." Warbird looks and sounds very serious.

"Good! Maybe he'll finally come to his senses and recall me from this forsaken place!" Kubark says sulkily. "I _only_ smashed a city. That's hardly a reason to banish me to _Earth._"

"A _city?_" Laura can't help asking.

Kubark rolls his eyes. "It was boring. _Nothing _had happened in over a fortnight. So I had a little fun and pretended it was a Brood invasion. Father _totally _overreacted."

"The damages totaled _billions, _Kubark," Warbird says stiffly. "You jammed the teleportation circuits for half a moon cycle…_and _the force-fields fell. The entire _imperium_ might have been seized. These are not the actions of a king."

"Speak like that again and I'll have your head for treason," Kubark says sharply. "Now be quiet. Your emperor commands it."

Warbird gives Julian a tired look, a look that begs him to talk sense into her charge, but she falls silent. Again he feels pity for her, and wonders what _she_ could ever have done to deserve this job. Laura glances at him encouragingly as well, and he feels mildly annoyed. How did Kubark become _his _responsibility? He doesn't even like the kid all that much…just pities him.

"Anyways, I'm going to skip the rest of space-flight and go lie down for a bit," he says flatly. "Could you tell Cannonball that I won't be coming back?"

"You want me to be your _messenger?!_" Kubark demands indignantly.

"Oh my god," Laura says, in wonder.

"No, I—" Julian throws up his hands in the air and stomps off, his tolerance level overcome. Behind he hears Laura shrugging and starting after him, and a little after that, Kubark saying _"Wait! Where's everyone going?" _

"Unbelievable," Laura says, when she catches up. "I just…I have no words. He is beyond description."

"Let's not talk about him," Julian says, jamming his hands into his pockets.

**…**

_**2:15 pm  
>The Danger Sub-Rooms<strong>_

_**"YOU'RE NOT EVEN TRYING!" **_ Rachel Grey's voice bellows, frustration evident. The roar echoes throughout the metal corridor, bringing both of the approaching students to a halt. They trade uncertain glances. "Maybe this is a bad time?" Laura suggests tentatively.

"_**I **_**AM**_** TRYING!" **_a familiar voice shouts back at the top of its lungs, with equal fury. Quire. Julian's eyes narrow, and he eyes the door to the sub-room where they must be having a practice session. He's curious as to what could be frustrating his rival so badly. Quire's main boast, after all, is that everything is just _so_ effortless for him.

"_**CLEARLY NOT HARD ENOUGH!" **_ Rachel taunts. "I'm there! The phone booth—the little catch in her voice—the way she said it—"

"_**NYYYEARGH!" **_Quire makes a noise that speaks of boiling rage. "That's _private_, you—"

"Hold it," Rachel says. There is a few moments of silence, then the door slides open and Quire stomps into the hallway, hands jammed deep into his pockets and glare fixed firmly on the floor as he rushes past them. Both exchange glances.

Rachel appears at the doorway, her eyebrows raised. "Come to check out that link of yours?" she asks.

"Well, Dr. McCoy said—" Julian begins.

"And he was right," she interrupts. "I've been aware of it for a while now. It was the hottest thing on the psychic network for a day or two there, back when you were screaming at each other. Well, knowledge is everything, and if you guys are willing to work hard, I'm sure we can tame it down a bit."

They trade glances again.

"Screaming at each other?" Laura asks.

Rachel nods. "Before you started cooperating. " She folds her arms. "You know, this is probably just all a misunderstanding. Learn to trade thoughts through the link and your powers will stop trying to get your messages across instead."

"…thoughts?" Julian asks, _his_ eyebrows raised now. "But neither of us are telepaths."

"You probably are," Rachel says dismissively. "But that isn't the point. Hope merged you in more ways than one. If you really learn to coordinate yourselves…open up…you could share your thoughts."

Laura shakes her head immediately. "Not interested. I _like_ my mind being separate from Keller's."

"You need to learn how to control this either way," Rachel says firmly. "The link is already _there. _You _don't _have a choice. But to learn how to _close _it…you have to learn how to _open _it first."

"I don't know," Julian says uncomfortably. "That's pretty…uh…"

"Things are just going to get worse if you do nothing," Rachel says. "Given that it's almost gotten both of you killed a few times already…I think preemptive action is the way to go here."

Laura folds her arms and looks away, her eyebrows drawn together in distress and displeasure.

"Let us think about it…okay?" Julian asks, after a few moments.

"It's your lives," Rachel says, apparently unconcerned. "Hit me up again when you're ready."

**…**

_**2:21 pm  
>Julian's (and Laura's Temporary) Room<strong>_

"No," Laura announces, slamming the door behind them. "No, no, and _no."_

"I don't like it either," Julian says, frowning.

She glares at him. "It is the worst idea in the history of mankind. I couldn't live with myself, having _you_ in my head."

He sits down on the edge of the bed. "It'd just be…weird," he says, looking up at her. "No privacy. I mean, it's my _mind. _How much more personal could you get?"

"Stop considering it, then!" Laura snaps.

"I'm not, I swear." He grits his teeth. "How are we going to stop the transfers, then?"

She is silent. He flops backward on the bed and looks up at the ceiling, trying to wrap his mind around the news he has just received…that he is linked to Laura much more deeply than he had thought possible. He'd thought whatever Hope had done had been a simple power-switching thing…but a _mind link? _Didn't Jean Grey and Cyclops have one of those? He glances at Laura, who is now standing in front of the window, her arms folded tightly as she gazes out.

He remembers what he'd been thinking the other day, his fears that she's not interested in him. He remembers that he has the super-senses right now, and he sits up slightly, realizing that he can make sure. "Laura?" he asks.

She doesn't turn her head. "What?" she asks, her tone sharp and bitter.

He takes a moment to word it. "Do you like me?" he asks finally.

She makes a scoffing noise. "Not very much right now."

He shakes his head. "I mean…if things were simple…if it was just you and me, and we were normal people…and I asked you out, would you say yes?"

Laura hesitates, looks at him. "I don't know."

After a moment, he shrugs. "It's not a no, I guess."

She sighs, rolls her eyes while shaking her head. "I _told_ you—I don't think we're a good idea. Usually I'm pretty certain about who I like and who I don't. If I'm not even _sure…_"

Julian nods. "I know. I've been…well…worrying that you don't even…like me that way. You know, that you just said you'd try it out of…pity."

"No, that's—" Laura pauses, surprising herself with the swiftness of her answer. "I don't pity you."

"Okay," he says. He shrugs slightly, then nods, as if convincing himself. "Well, good."

"Why would I pity you?" she asks.

"I dunno," he says. "Forget it. It was stupid."

"Okay." She hesitates, then moves over to the bed and sits down on the edge. "Like I told you…I haven't done this before. And we're _so_ different."

"Not really," he says, studying her profile as she looks down at the floor. "Sometimes...in some ways…I think we're exactly the same."

She glances up. "Like how?"

"Well…we're both stubborn," he says thoughtfully. "Not that it's a bad thing."

"_You're_ stubborn. I'm just determined."

"Those are synonyms."

"No they're not!" She glares at him. He only grins.

"Whatever," she says, under her breath.

"We're both loyal," he continues. "There's nothing I wouldn't do for a friend…for a _real _friend…if I know that they _are_ my friends." He pauses. "And I know you're the same."

Laura says nothing, but watches him keenly. Appraisingly.

"And you like flying," he adds.

"Who wouldn't?" she counters.

"More people than you'd think," he replies. A lock of hair falls into her eyes, and without even thinking about it he reaches out and brushes it away. A few heartbeats pass, and he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her toward him. Her hands are on either side of his neck, fingers splayed as if she is caught between encouraging and resisting. For a brief instant he's certain of himself, certain that he's doing the right thing. He needs to take a moment to breathe, but he doesn't want to come up for air.

"_Attention," _a smooth, mechanical, female voice announces calmly. _"Your danger room exam has begun."_

Laura pulls away. "Huh?"

Julian sees the cannon, over her shoulder. He doesn't have time to explain, only to shove her off the bed—hard—just as it fires a laser beam at his chest. _**"ARRRGH!" **_he yells, feeling his flesh melting under the barrage.

"Hey!" she shouts from the floor, scrambling to her knees and glaring at him over the edge of the bed. Her expression changes very quickly, however, as the beam stops and reveals his smoking front. Which is healing, very quickly. Julian coughs and rubs soot off his face, glaring at the cannon that is receding into painting across the room. "I _knew _that thing was too ugly to be art!" he snarls.

"Look out!" Laura shouts, and he turns just in time to see his wrist getting caught by a metal tentacle that's growing out of his lamp. "What the—" he exclaims, trying to yank himself away. She throws herself across the mattress and grabs onto the tendril, trying to help him. He grabs her shoulder with his free hand. "Shield us!" he says, trying not to sound like he's panicking.

"Why?" Laura asks, stopping to look at him. He points at the huge, dripping white figure that's just emerged from their bathroom, supporting itself on a large mess of pipes: the toilet. Two rotating machine guns seem to have grown out of the tank, and a jet of flame is shooting out of the bowl. Not the mention the multitude of arms growing out of the mass of pipes…all with deadly-looking appendages. One has a buzz-saw for a hand.

"_Level one," _the mechanical voice says calmly.

"You have _got _to be kidding me," Laura says, her voice flat. "I have had it up to fucking here with your mother-fucking piece-of-shit toilet."

"I honestly don't know what to say…except _please_ shield us," Julian replies.

Her eyes begin to glow, and moments later a ripple passes through the air around them, flickering with a faint greenish hue. He can hear a light electrical humming noise, something he's usually unaware of—the only sound he hears is when he attacks. Curious, he reaches out with his free hand and touches the shield. His fingertips buzz on contact, like from a mild electrical current.

"Ugh—that feels _gross!" _Laura snaps, scrunching her eyes shut. "Do you _mind?"_

"Sorry," he says, retracting his hand. "It's just weird not to be connected to it, you know?"

"No, what's _weird _is that your fucking _furniture _is _attacking _us!" she exclaims. "Mind telling me what the hell our plan is here?"

"Uh," Julian sits up. The lamp-tendril is still holding his wrist, but it's not fighting him anymore. "Well, I think I've got to get out of this first." He makes a fist with his free hand and—_Snikt!_—the claws pop out immediately, as if they'd been waiting all the long. He brings them to the metal tendril, but finds that they won't cut through. "Shit," he mumbles.

"Cut your hand off," Laura says nonchalantly.

He glares at her. "How about _fuck no._"

She shrugs. "Okay, whatever. I forgot you're all touchy about limb-loss. I'm telling you—it'll just take a second for it to heal back up."

Julian grits his teeth. "I'm pretty sure you've still got your Adamantium set in there," he says, nodding to her hand on the bed. "How about _you _try cutting it."

She pauses. "I hadn't thought of that," she admits.

"But your mind immediately went to _cutting my hand off,_" he says, his voice full of sarcasm.

Laura rolls her eyes. "Because that's what _I _would do. God, give me a break. I'm not used to having to deal with our weird situation." She raises her hand, makes a fist and—_Snnkt! __**"AAAGHHHH!" **_she screams, grabbing her wrist and staring at her shaking, bloody fingers. "It _HURTS! _Holy _FUCK!" _

He feels bad suddenly. "Shit, you don't heal."

She glares at him, then brings her fist in toward his hand. He lets out a yell and tries to fight her off. "Stay still!" she snaps. Her claws cut through the lamp like it's butter, and he immediately brings his hand in close to his chest in a protective gesture.

"I thought you were going to cut it off!" he accuses.

Laura's lip curls. "I don't want your precious hand. I want my _healing factor back._ Let's finish the toilet-monster off before I pass out from pain here."

"Agreed," Julian says. He eyes their opponent, which is apparently waiting for them to approach, even though she is no longer shielding them. "Wait, so am I playing Wolverine here, or are you?"

Laura pauses, gives him an incredulous look. "Why would you even _ask_ such a stupid question?"

"Uh…" he shrugs. "Just go, I guess?"

"Yes, just go," she says, closing her eyes. "Attack it."

Julian hesitates, then makes a fist with his other hand—_Snikt!—_and heads toward the danger-room robot, trying not to feel nervous. He examines it for a moment, takes a few steps around their opponent. "So, uh, how do I…" he looks back at her. "Just stab it or…?"

Laura gazes at him. "There is no way you were ever in charge of a squad." She shakes her head. "_Yes, _just stab it. In real life, they don't stand still and _wait for you to do it_."

"Shut up." He eyes the robot again, then hauls back his fist and strikes at one of the gun-arms, from the back. Instantly the bot bursts into action. A pipe swings around and hits him in the back of the head. As he stumbles backward, it sends a round of heavy-caliber bullets into his abdomen. _**"AHHHG—" **_he shouts, slamming into his front door. The other arm of the robot is charging up for action, but Laura reaches it in time with a burst of energy. It doesn't hurt the thing but it does knock it off course, just as it launches a small missile. This hits the door instead, and Julian raises his arm just in time to shield himself from a face-full of slivers.

"Get up!" Laura says, dodging an arm with a punching glove at the end of it. "It's going to—" she doesn't see the other arm coming for her—the arm with a buzz-saw at the end—and it catches her in the upper bicep. _**"FUCK—" **_she grabs for the limb with her still-clawed free hand, her face a mask of panic. There's a lot of blood and a wet snapping sound.

Julian scrambles to his feet and launches himself at the construct, determined. He hadn't _really_ taken it seriously until the scent of her fresh, deep blood had hit his nose. It's maddening. He grabs for the buzz-saw arm with his bare fingers, jamming the claws of the other hand into its joint. _Bzzzzt! _He feels a sickening, numbing pain jarring through the bones of his hand, but ignores it, and a moment later the blade goes flying through the air, detached. He then smashes his fist through the porcelain tank, grabbing at anything he can find, but nothing seems to be working.

"It's…it's not growing back," Laura says, in a confused voice. She's slid down the wall, holding her severed arm up against the stump of her shoulder. Her skin is pale.

"God _damn _it." Julian ducks instinctively as another spray of bullets passes over his head. He sees—against his abdomen—another spray of flames emerging from the bowl—and has a streak of inspiration. Steeling himself, he plunges his fist straight into the flaming pit. It hurts like crazy, but under his fingers he feels a lever. He grabs it—turns it—and the machine just…collapses.

"_Level one complete," _the female voice announces smoothly. _"Clean-up in progress." _

And just like that, everything in his room reverts to what it had been just a few minutes before. In disbelief, Julian barges into the washroom, turns on the lights—and sees that the toilet is sitting in its usual place, unaffected. "This is _unbelievable!" _he snarls, emerging from the bathroom again. "_Holograms! _They're fucking with our minds again, just like—"

Laura's still sitting against the wall, clutching her arm. The blood is gone, but her face is still crumpled and she is sobbing, hard. He feels even angrier, but he kneels beside her and curls his fingers under her chin. "It's okay, look," he says, reaching for her arm with the other hand. She moves away, shaking her head and groaning.

"Laura…" He shifts so his back is against the wall and puts his arm around her shoulders, trying to put aside his anger so he can help her calm down. It's hard—he's not used to having to put himself last—but he knows nothing is more important right now. "Shh. It's okay, your arm is fine, it's—"

"It was so r-real!" she says, shuddering. "I want—I want my healing back—I can't feel like that again—"

Julian bites back a sarcastic comment. "I know," he says instead, rubbing her shoulder and frowning. "I know."

They sit like that for a while, until—with a final, deep sniffle—Laura gets up, dusts herself off and moves for the door.

"Where are you going?" he asks, looking up.

She pauses, her still-bleeding hand on the doorknob. "I need to explain myself to you now?" she demands sharply.

His upper lip curls. "Guess not."

Laura twists the doorknob and leaves, pulling it shut violently behind her. She doesn't want to admit to him how wildly afraid she is of mortality…and quite frankly, she's terrified of the fact that he'd known exactly how she felt. No one _ever _knows how she feels. She's alone and that's how it is, and thinking that maybe it's not has brought back the whole mind-link deal and she's _done with it _for the day.

**…**

_**1:58 am  
>West side of Manhattan <strong>_

She finds her bike (which Logan has kindly fixed) and takes it for a hard and fast ride. She finally stops near some bar she's never seen before, and—after quickly binding her throbbing hand in the washroom—gets quite nicely hammered, about the only blessing to this power thing. At closing time she stumbles out and looks at her bike, then feels pissed off all over again since she can't ride it. "Fuckin'…" She kicks it and stumbles backward, into someone.

"Whoa, easy," Julian says. She twists around, startled.

He holds her at arm's length, his hands on her shoulders. "I tracked you," he explains.

"The fuck're you keeping tabs on me for, huh?" she demands, glaring at him.

"I was worried," he replies. "You don't heal right now."

"I can…take care of myself!" she says. "Don't need you."

"Okay," he says, but he looks like he doesn't believe him. This makes her angrier, and she kicks him in the shin. And almost loses her balance again. "I _hate _you!" she grinds out, her eyes glowing in the darkness. "I hate you an' I hate your fuckin' powers and…and the day you were _born._"

Julian presses his lips together. "Okay."

She watches him for a moment longer, then her expression shifts: her eyebrows draw together, and the anger in her eyes fades to desperation. "I hate that you're part of me," she says, his voice softer, and he realizes—suddenly—that _this_ is what she's really trying to say. "I don't want you to—I don't know how to—" she looks down, her forehead wrinkled. "Don't…don't know how to love. Don't _want _to. I'm afraid…afraid of all this…this…'us'."

"Okay," he says, swallowing. It hurts, somehow, that she has to get drunk to tell him the truth. And yet—he feels a sense of relief, that his fears were unfounded. Whatever else she's saying, the parts about not _wanting _to care for him…that means that she _does_. "I know, it's scary. But we're…we're in this together, right?"

Laura's upper lip curls, and she glances at him defiantly, like she wants to throw something in his face…but doesn't know what. Then she's kissing him, hard, her arms winding around his neck. He thinks she might try screwing him against the alley wall, by the rate of her heart and the intoxicating scents she's releasing—and he's trying to make up his mind—whether to resist or not—when she turns his head, so she can whisper in his ear. "You won' like wha's inside me."

He doesn't know how to react to that. There's a throb of pain in his temples, and suddenly his senses dim dramatically. The smell of her arousal suddenly evaporates, and he can only hear his own heart pounding in his ears. He shakes his head and sees that she's rubbing hers and blinking hard. "The fuck am I?" she asks, her voice much clearer.

"You were drunk," he says. "Are you serious—your healing clears up a hangover _that fast?_"

"I don't get hangovers," she says, looking around. "Well, there's my bike. I'll see you back at the school."

"Hang on," he says. "You said something a few seconds ago—"

"I suspect I said a lot of things," she says, avoiding his gaze. "Just forget it."

"You said—"

"Just forget it," Laura repeats, her tone firm. "I'm not going to waste my time trying to figure out a bunch of drunk babbling. End scene, Keller. See you back at the school." She moves over to her bike and climbs onto it, her face very carefully composed.

Julian watches her go, his fists clenched and his eyes glowing in the darkness. He considers flying back, but he knows Logan will be mad if he leaves a student car here on the shitty side of town, so eventually he returns to it and takes the long way back, running his mind over everything he's learned tonight.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hi all! My updates have slowed down a lot as I am focusing more on serious writing, both for class and for a potential novel :) Thanks for reading, I'll post more soon. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12<br>**

* * *

><p><em><strong>1:10 pm two weeks later<br>The School Lawn**_

"Yer probably wondering why I have you all gathered out here," Logan says loudly, to the line of various students assembled on the lawn in front of the school.

It's the end of the term, and for the final exams, all students are required to practice the skills they've learned this term in a real-life encounter. He'd disagreed with Summer's 'field day' exams, in which the kids would compete with each other in teams. That only gave them a false sense of security. No, Logan knows that experience is the best teacher.

He's selected what he considers to be the special-needs students, as in 'special need of extra supervision, guidance and disciplinary action'. This includes Kid Omega, Kid Gladiator, Oya, Broo, Glob Herman, Eye Boy, Shark Girl, and—of course—the school's two biggest troublemakers of late—Hellion and his own clone, X-23. _God damn her, _he thinks, annoyed. _She used to not be _in _this group. _The other kids are all off with Rogue and Husk, having semi-normal exams that involve the streets of New York. But _this _is the special group, the one for which that's not enough of an eye-opener. No, this group Logan is personally taking to the Savage Lands for a field trip. He'd even gone so far as to contact Gladiator and request that Warbird be instructed not to come on this 'deep learning experience'. The woman hadn't been able to argue with a direct imperial order, and—quite frankly—she'd looked very relieved. "Is Drake done with his class?" she'd asked, with a sparkle in her eyes.

_Should toughen them up pretty quick,_ Logan thinks hopefully of the planned excursion. Or—more importantly—teach them to work _as a team _and stop trying to kill each other. _Reach for the stars, right?_

"Not me," Quire says, faking a yawn.

"Shut up." Logan folds his arms. "Finals, kids. Yer goin' to be under my wing for this one."

"You don't got wings," Glob Herman points out.

"That was figurative." He looks at Keller. "The theme of today's final is goin' to be survival and the value of teamwork."

The kid gives him a dull look in return that implies he has just been fed a line of pure bull shit. "You can't be serious."

"Something to say, Keller?" Logan asks, raising his eyebrows pointedly. _Go on, take the bait._

"Well—" Keller looks down the line, and points at Quire. "I have a problem with you asking me to work with someone who is actively trying to _sabotage _us."

"He's a student at this school unless I say otherwise," Logan says patiently. "I don't. So yes, you're going to work with him. And I'm not asking—I'm _telling._"

He waits for Keller to argue, but instead he shrugs and gives Laura a knowing glance. Logan looks at his clone as well, to see her reaction. She's standing with her arms folded against her chest.

"Why am I here?" she asks loudly.

"Because you're a student at the school," Logan answers, still patiently.

"It was mostly a rhetorical question." She kicks the ground. "I just don't see why you're concerned about my knowing how to work on a team. I _know_ how to work on a team. I was on a team with _you _and as I recall Cyclops—_your director—_seemed to think I was an invaluable member."

Logan's teeth grit automatically, and all of the students look toward Laura, interested. She never tells them what actually happened on X-force, only drops little intriguing hints that pique their curiosity.

"We're not talking about that," he says, his voice carefully controlled.

"Well, if it's not my concept of 'the values of teamwork' you're worried about, then are you concerned that I'm foggy on the value of survival?" Laura asks, in that annoying way of hers that sounds perfectly reasonable and genuinely curious. Logan pauses. "Shut up," he grunts. "Yer coming whether you like it or not."

"This is a load of crap," Quire says sourly. "I have a _lot_ of better uses for my time."

"Like cleaning toilets with your face?" Keller taunts.

"Keller!" Logan snaps. "You're sitting in the back of the plane, with Quire. And if there is _one_ sign of trouble, you'll flunk this entire term and be sent for _five years of mental detention _with Professor Grey. Got it?" He glances along the line. "That goes for _all_ of you. Best behavior today."

"Wha—you can't do that!" Keller protests.

"I can do whatever the hell I like," Logan says. "Now—everyone clear?"

Jerky nodding. Satisfied, he points at the school. "Everyone to the sub-basement. We're on X-wing number 2 today."

**…**

_**1:25 pm, X-wing #2  
>Somewhere over the Atlantic<strong>_

Laura looks out of the window at the passing clouds, her expression full of boredom. She's seated beside Shark Girl—whom she really doesn't care to talk to after that awkward initial introduction—so the time seems right for introspection.

The last two weeks have passed by without too much incident. There'd been a small interdimensional invasion on the weekend following the night she had gotten drunk…and then it was crunch time, for all her classes. Projects due, cramming for tests, and having to help Julian with calculus when he'd had a minor breakdown (leading to his discovering that she's good at math). At first she had wanted to keep her distance from him, afraid that she'd told him too much when she was drunk…but he hadn't said anything more about it. And dammit—one night they'd been going to bed before her Biology final, and she'd gotten a little worked up studying the reproductive system. It didn't help that she had her own powers, and he'd smelled really good. There had been some attacking on her side, and clothes were torn off—and she was about to bring out some of her 'other' skills on him when wouldn't you know it! _"Level two commencing," _the mechanical female voice had said. A small battle had followed; Julian's dresser had revealed that it was concealing all sorts of interesting weapons in its drawers. Since they were both properly powered, they had made short work out of it; but nevertheless, the mood was broken and nothing more had happened.

After yet another incident in the hallway the week following, Laura had become convinced that Logan has something to do with the Danger Room targeting them. They'd had a moment alone and Julian had stopped her to ask about her holiday plans, and if she was going to the stupid school dance. Before she could answer…_"Level three commencing"._ Laura never knew lockers could be so lethal.

She glances over her shoulder, at the back row where Julian is sitting. Both he and Quire look equally irritated, although the latter is better at hiding his expressions. She realizes—suddenly—that it's something she likes: he's easy to read, even without her enhanced senses. Basically an open book. He doesn't lie, and his emotions are strong and clear. He's either pissed off, or happy. There are no complicated in-betweens.

Laura wrinkles her nose, not sure what to think of this. She doesn't spend a lot of time appreciating his good qualities, probably a lot less than she should, given what they've become. _For that matter…what exactly _are _we? _she wonders, feeling uncomfortable. She has—so far—avoided referring to him with any affectionate terms. Even 'boyfriend' is too much for her to say. But there has to be a word for it. It had become awkwardly important when he'd sent her a stupid social network request to acknowledge...and clarify...their relationship. She had responded by not acknowledging the request.

So far he hasn't complained. So far.

If she's honest with herself—really honest—she's pushing him away. Holding him at arm's length. And she knows _why, _too. It's not that she's afraid of trying new things, not by far. She's always the first to order the new dish at an eatery, the first to order the drink with the weird name, the first to try out a new fighting move or to enter a dangerous situation. She _lives_ for new, because of her past.

But there's something different about this situation. First of all, Julian's life could be at risk. She hadn't lied when she told him she is dangerous, a bomb waiting to go off at the school. But that's not all there is to it either though, and that's where it gets confusing, because she's used to things being practical. The secret she will barely even admit to herself is that she's afraid of the possible mind-link between them.

If he sees what she is—if he catches a _glimpse _of what she's done—she doesn't even allow herself to wonder what his reaction would be. If she's learned anything over the years since she won her freedom, it's that she can't tell _anyone _about her true self. The Laura she shows to others, the Laura that everyone—her classmates, her teachers, Logan—knows, is a camouflage, a shell that she's very carefully constructed. A cage.

Her eyes settle on his face, as he leans his cheek against his hand (also looking bored). She imagines it twisting in repulsion, and she feels cold. She swallows and straightens in her seat. _Can't let it happen. Keep him out. Keep them all out. _

She'd been very hesitant about coming to the school with Quire present, just because of that reason. Here was a telepath without scruples. But Logan had promised her that Rachel Grey was on it, was paying special heed to blocking her mind, and then he'd asked her to trust him. And she'd been drawn back to the moment when his hand had been held out to her, in the dark, small confines of her cell—the air heavy with weeks of her own bodily scents because they'd left her and the way his scent had been clearer than all of that—and how he'd asked her to trust him. She nodded. Both times.

She leans her head against the window, and her eyelids slide partially shut. She feels the echo of grief—as she always does—when she thinks of that period of her life. Then she feels mildly irritated with Julian for bringing it all up again. Then she nods off, and wakes to the sounds of landing gears being deployed.

**…**

_**3:32 pm, X-wing #2  
>The Savage Lands<strong>_

"Hold up!" Julian calls. They are hiking through the wilderness up a slight incline, to where Logan says they will 'get the lay of the land'.

Laura turns. "What?" she asks, unable to help sounding a little impatient. The sense of irritation from the plane had remained with her.

"Thought we could walk together," he says, slowing as he reaches her.

She shrugs. He reaches out and takes her hand; she doesn't resist, since there's no one she cares about concealing their association from in this group. Besides, she thinks her grumpiness is irrational. The hand-holding is a small gesture, and it seems to make him happy. His body is relaxing.

"It's actually kind of nice out here, if I forget about the stupid field trip," Julian says. "And the dinosaurs are pretty cool."

"You've obviously never fought one," Laura says flatly.

He glances at her. "_You _have?" he asks.

"Nevermind." She kicks a rock out of her way. "I guess it _is_ nice to get out of Smell-Hell."

"Yeah." Julian knows about her name for the school, and understands quite well the reason behind it. He's been using the term lately himself, especially after a power-switch had occurred when he was in the boy's locker room. "So what you think he's cooking up for us? Dino fight?"

"Probably." Laura squints up at the low afternoon sun. "Around sunset the carnivores will be out hunting. Might be a T-Rex."

"You and I will pass with flying colors, with all the extra practice we've been getting lately." Julian squeezes her hand. "I think there's been something funny up with that, don't you? Like maybe Logan—"

"Oh, _definitely _Logan," Laura interrupts, her voice full of sarcasm as she gazes up the incline—about twenty yards ahead—at the man leading the students. "He's the best there is at what he does all right…and what he does is hypocrisy."

Julian snorts.

"Honestly, if he's that worried about me getting knocked up, he should hire a better sex-ed teacher," Laura continues. "Or maybe start a free contraceptive program at the school. Cheaper than programming the entire _Danger Room _to focus on my activities_." _

"I thought you'd dropped Gambit's class," he says.

"Apparently it's mandatory if you didn't take it at the old school," Laura replies flatly.

"Oh." He frowns. "That sucks."

"A lot of things about this school sucks," she says, with a shrug.

"No kidding." He stops suddenly. "Do you smell that?"

"What?" Laura blinks. She hadn't been aware of a power-switch—and on a panicked double-checking, finds that there hasn't been one. Sniffing the air, she knows immediately what he's talking about. They are being followed by a dinosaur. A carnivore, by the smell of it. It is still a long ways off, downhill, but for a moment the wind had shifted and brought its scent up to them.

"Got it." She looks at him. "How did you smell it, though?"

He shrugs. "Maybe we were sharing the power. Remember what Professor Grey said?"

Laura hesitates. "You didn't see anything, right?"

"Don't think so," he says, knowing she means the mind-link. He's spent the last two weeks grappling with what she'd said that night, and finally has decided that she must have been referring to that. She probably has a secret or a bad memory that she wants to keep hidden. He's thought about this a lot, trying to decide how he feels about the idea that she's hiding something…and all he has been able to decipher so far is that he's not sure.

They walk on in silence for a few minutes. Julian racks his brain for something to say, afraid that she's angry at him somehow. Finally he remembers a stupid thought he'd had in the plane earlier. "Think I should get my claws coated with Adamantium?" he asks.

She gives him an incredulous look. _"What?" _

"Well—" he pauses. "I've been thinking…it was bad when I couldn't cut myself out of that lamp-thing a few weeks ago…and I almost broke them off during the locker war." He shrugs. "It's not like they _go _anywhere when I've got the tk. Dr. McCoy did an X-ray a few days ago."

"But you don't have a healing factor," Laura protests. "You'll get Adamantium poisoning. Logan does whenever he loses his powers."

"_You _didn't," Julian counters.

She considers this. "Yeah but that's because it took me a while to stop regenerating, even with my powers gone. I think…any longer without my powers and it could have become a problem."

He looks at his hand. "Well, maybe if we learn how to share this thing all the way. It'd be awesome."

Laura feels annoyed again. "It's not like doing your _nails _or something. It _hurts, _and it makes your arms feel heavy. Getting used to the weight change took me _years._"

"And you can cut through _anything_," he says, unable to hide the look of envy.

"You can _fly_, but I don't plan to keep it forever!" Laura snaps, stopping in her tracks. He stops too, watching her with surprise. He hadn't realized she would get angry. "You're acting like Grey was _right!" _she continues. "Like the mind-link is our only option. I never, _ever _want to open my mind to you like that, Julian."

"Maybe we don't _have _to!" he says, his tone a little exasperated. "What if it just means we're not _thinking _about it all the time? Kind of like how it was just now?"

"That's not how it works." She glares at him. "Don't plan on keeping my powers, Julian. All this is just temporary. Over break…I want for us to go find Hope and get her to undo it."

"Like _that's _going to happen," he says. "Come on. It's _Hope_ we're talking about here. Righteous, goody-two-shoes, holier-than-thou-Hope."

Laura feels even more annoyed, probably because he's right. She shakes her head, then slips her hand out of his and increases her pace up the incline until she's beside Idie and Broo, who are having an animated conversation about _'how colorful it all is'_.

Julian watches her go, feeling angry himself. He hadn't meant at all to press the idea of the mind-link; in fact, he'd been trying to change the topic entirely. But it seems that—right now, for Laura—all roads lead to that place. She must be really terrified of whatever she's hiding. He sighs, jams his hands in his pockets and tries to calm down, figuring that he'll give it a few minutes and then apologize.

**…**

_**3:53 pm, Top of the Hill  
>The Savage Lands<strong>_

"We're here!" Logan barks, at the summit of the overlook hill. Before him stands the same line of students as stood on the lawn of the school, except now they are a good deal more rosy-cheeked and out-of-breath—and disgruntled, in some cases. He notes that Laura and Keller are standing on opposite ends of the line, the former looking like she's in quite a mood. He feels hopeful. _Good, maybe she's comin' to her senses, _he thinks.

"Take a good look! Memorize the landmarks. Yer gonna wish you had done just that in about half an hour here." He pulls out a cigarette and a lighter. "You've got five minutes, then I'll explain yer test. Get to it kids. Talk about it, if it'll help." He walks along the ridge to the other side, to let the kids get closer to the vantage point. Little do they know he's not coming back.

Laura gazes across the landscape, her arms folded. _Jungle to the west, mountains to the North, plain to the East and a river runs through it. _It takes her about twenty seconds to commit all the landmarks to memory, seeing as such exercises are child's play for a mind conditioned for just such tasks through years of training and torture. She hears footsteps, and looks over to see the object of her irritation approaching. She scowls at him.

Julian holds up a hand. "Look. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for us to fight."

"Unintentional fights happen all the time," she says coolly.

He shrugs. "If you want to see Hope—fine. I'll go with you. I don't _want_ the mind-link or anything, okay?"

She studies him for a moment. "Whatever," she replies.

They stand side by side, both looking at the horizon. "I don't see the point of us doing this," he says. "I mean—I _fly. _There's no way we can get lost."

"It's all a waste of time," Laura agrees, her tone a little lighter. He reaches around her waist, and she doesn't stop him; both begin to relax, the fight temporarily forgotten. She shrugs finally. "I guess it's a nice view."

"Mmm," he says, and she sees—out of the corner of her eye—that he is looking at her. She smiles slightly, and he realizes this is a good time to ask her what he'd been trying to suggest before the war of the lockers. "You want to come with me to the stupid dance-thing?"

"I wasn't going to go," she replies. "Seeing as it _is_ stupid."

"Well, it wouldn't be stupid if you're there," he says. "Besides, I'm pretty sure it's mandatory."

"Oh my god." Laura closes her eyes. "I _hate_ Logan. I just _hate _him." She sighs, then looks at him again and sees he's still waiting for her answer. "Yes, fine, whatever. I really don't give a shit. I'd be happy to go alone."

"Guess that's better than 'no'," he says after a moment. "What about the rest of the holidays?"

"Hadn't thought about it," Laura says.

Julian hesitates. "I don't…I don't have family, anymore…" He pauses. "Did you….I dunno…want to go somewhere? After Utopia?"

She arches an eyebrow at him. "Where?"

He shrugs. "Anywhere you want."

"We don't have money though."

"I have some." Julian pulls her a little closer. "And I thought that maybe we could get a ride from the X-wing, if plane tickets would be too expensive."

"I'll think about it," she says.

"Okay." He pauses. "Hey, where's Logan?"

**…**

_**4:22 pm, Top of the Hill  
>The Savage Lands<strong>_

"It's _obvious _he's not coming back and that he left me in charge," Quentin says loudly. "He was practically yelling it in my head. We're supposed to find our way back to the X-wing."

"Why would he leave you in charge?" Keller challenges. "Unless he's trying to get us all killed. I admit, in that case, you as a leader would be pretty effective."

Quentin looks at the boy who has been such a pain in his ass of late. He'd been nothing to worry about before, back when he'd just been a one-hit wonder, a burn-out from the Xavier school. Neither had Kinney, for that matter. She might have some immunity to his probing mental fingers, but then again she'd never really stepped on his toes all that much. Out of curiosity, Quentin had poked around Logan's head to see what he knew about Laura, and had found that she had quite the dark origin story. Full of blood. He'd kept that as a mental note, something he could use against Logan at some point…but so far, there had been no need.

Then Keller had gotten her powers—and suddenly, he seemed intent on becoming his nemesis at the school. Of course, Quentin hadn't taken him seriously…at first.

Until the day he'd nearly fucking killed him. Quentin had been messing around with the other boy's head, testing different centers, seeing what had changed with the new power set…at the same time as egging him on verbally, because it's amusing to mess with people on more than one level. He still can't pin his finger on what he'd done, but he'd found some sort of area in the boy's mind that day, like a rage button. In the few terrifying minutes that had followed, Quentin had found that trying to penetrate his mind was like trying to break down a brick wall with his bare fingernails.

Now? His eyes narrow on Keller.

"Thinking of nominating yourself, Cyclops junior?" Quentin taunts.

Keller looks angry. "I'm nothing like Cyclops."

"You're _exactly_ like Cyclops." Quentin folds his arms, knowing he's hitting home. "You modelled yourself after him. He was your _idol _at the school. You used to spend hours and hours going over his Danger Room scenarios, trying to copy him."

"Everyone has a stupid fantasy when they're _fifteen,_" Keller says sharply. Even without reading the other boy's mind, Quentin knows he's hitting a sore spot—and he feels an odd sense of relief. The fear of setting off Keller's kill switch again has made him avoid his mind lately…but the lack of information on his enemy makes him feel uneasy and vulnerable. He's never been all that great at reading people based on body language alone, and he hadn't had many—if any—friends before coming to Xavier's school for his 'weird problem', as his parents put it. The parents he'd later found out had adopted him…the same parents who gave him up to the state and let him know with a phone call.

Discovering his immense mental powers had been the best moment of his life, being able to see beyond himself into the minds of others and see what they were really thinking about him…and change any thoughts he didn't like. For a little while—before Xavier had sat down with him, given him a grim look and gently explained why he couldn't live this way—he'd been a god. No one could bully him, or look down on him, or throw punches at him when they were drunk, because he was untouchable.

_Not_ being able to use this ability on someone is an unnerving thought in itself. But it seems like he might be able to get past it. _He won't do it again, _Quentin's main thought-stream decides, trying to bolster his self-confidence. _I'm in control here, and he knows it. _The other ten million thoughts going on in the background are analyzing his environment, filtering the other student's thoughts, whistling annoying songs he can't get out of his head, searching for Logan, and working on a number of inventions, including an upgrade to the X-force time machine. In addition, six thought-streams are working on solving the remaining Millenium Prize Problems set by the Clay Mathematics Institute. He's almost got one figured out.

"Come on, guys," Keller says, raising his voice. "Back to the jet. All we need to do is retrace our steps."

"Don't be an idiot," Quentin says irritably. "That way's obviously obstructed now. We can take a shortcut off this cliff. No one listen to him."

Everyone seems confused. Laura Kinney folds her arms and gives Keller an apologetic look. "He's right."

"What the—" his enemy stares at her. "Are you seriously stabbing me in the back?"

"No, I just think this is a total waste of time," Kinney says. "If we're going to have this fight—which I think is several years in the making and totally justified—don't do it _here, _when Logan is _expecting _you to do it. Don't you see that this is a set-up?"

Keller looks at Quentin. "I guess she has a point," he says. "But I don't want to follow your lead. You're going to get us killed."

"Oh please," Quentin says, curling his upper lip. "_You're _the one with a track record of killing. I might have led a revolution…but nobody _died._"

"Except for your girlfriend," Kinney says mildly.

Quentin can't control the surge of panic and horror he feels at the mention of the way Sophie had died. All ten million thought processes slam to a squeaking halt. He swallows, fights back the urge to start shouting at Kinney—who hadn't really said it in an antagonistic way. Doing so would only prove their point. "That was an accident," he says carefully.

Keller gives him an odd look, but says nothing. Quentin looks around. "Come on!" he says, frustrated. "I've got better things to do than stand here. Keller—you're going to fly us off this cliff to the jet."

"Am I now?" his enemy asks.

Quentin's eye twitches in irritation. "Yes," he says through gritted teeth. Unfortunately, he'd never managed to harness his own telekinesis again after the brief brush with the Phoenix—and the associated discovery that Sophie would rather be dead than be with him. He has the sense that it might be a psychological block. A bad association.

"Julian…just _do_ it," Kinney urges, sounding frustrated. "Or _I'll_ do it when the power switches again. Your choice."

The other boy sighs, rolls his eyes and unfolds his arms. "Fine. I'll make a disk here, and you all get onto it…and stay _still, _got it?" He reaches out, and a green semi-globe forms on the ground, like a platform.

Then it disappears.

"For the love of god," Kinney says impatiently. "Just get it over with."

"No—it wasn't me," Keller says, his eyebrows drawn together. "I can't do it."

"What?" Kinney reaches out with her hand, apparently trying to make the disk. Nothing happens. "Fuck-nuggets," she says, her eyebrows drawn together.

"What's going on?" Quentin asks, then realizes that he _has_ to ask…and that there is only _one _thought in his head. And it's clueless. His eyes widen, and he looks toward the other students. "Can _anyone _use their powers?"

**…**

_**5:31 pm, Middle of the Hill  
>The Savage Lands<strong>_

"This day keeps getting better and better," Laura says flatly. She and Julian are heading down the hill again, following Quire, who seems to have gotten very twitchy and on edge without his telepathy. He is walking very fast, his shoulders hunched and arms curled tightly around himself in a defensive gesture.

"If by 'better' you mean 'worse' then I agree." Julian's hands are jammed into his pockets, and he drops his voice to a murmur. "I still can't believe that you chose to back up _Quire._"

"I didn't," Laura whispers. "Look…you _know_ I hate his guts. I just thought he had a decent idea that could get us out of here faster."

"And you think I couldn't have done the same?" He looks at her searchingly. "I know what I'm doing. In the squads, we were all taught how to lead our teams out of unknown situations. Retrace your steps is the first thing. If we had been flying when our powers got turned off…"

Laura shrugs. "I was never _on_ one of your stupid squads, remember?"

Julian thinks about this for a moment. "That's right," he says, frowning slightly as he thinks back to when they had first encountered each other, right after he and his friends had been presented with last year's field prize, and introduced as the 'head squad' for the current year. He'd been handed the trophy and a microphone, and, as this was the first bright moment in about a month of bad ones (the cherry on the cake being his parents announcing that he was no longer a member of the family), he had really taken the chance to rub his victory into the school's face. After a five-minute speech outlining just how great he and his squad were in comparison to the other losers in this school, he'd finally descended from the stage, beaming, only to come face-to-face with a really pretty girl that he'd never seen before. Standing beside Wolverine. They both wore matching expressions of distaste.

"Hey, sweetheart," he'd said, feeling confident in this moment of established supremacy. He noticed her eyes first: big and green. Her rack was second to gain his attention, but not less important. He was instantly fascinated.

"I don't have to join one of these practical jokes, right?" the girl asked Logan, effectively ignoring him, although she was looking right back at him…in a very unimpressed way. Logan nodded briefly. The glow of victory had quickly faded, and Julian's resentment of Laura for killing his good mood had lasted until the day he realized that maybe she could help him get it all back.

"Thinking about something?" Laura asks suddenly.

"Huh?"

"You went quiet for about five minutes."

"Oh." He shrugs. "I was thinking about when you first came to the school."

Laura begins to grin. "When you were making that stupid speech of triumph, right?"

He looks at her. "It wasn't _that_ bad."

"I should have put it on youtube," she replies. "I've never heard _anyone_ as full of shit as you."

"Shut up," he says.

"If your ego had gotten any bigger, you would've shoved your friends right off the stage," Laura continues. He closes his eyes. "Yeah, well, I was having a rough year."

"Please tell me there was alcohol involved," she says. "Even just a pocket-flask."

"At least I didn't try to incite a school riot and get you _killed_," Julian comments, his voice sharp. "Like QQ over there."

Laura shrugs. "I guess." She hesitates. "What do you mean, 'rough'?"

He is silent for a few moments, and she thinks that he might not answer. Then he shrugs. "I failed a few classes...and Sofia kept turning me down…my counsellor—my old one—was killed…and when you met me, it was just after a really crappy summer break in which I had a bunch of dreams shit on and learned that my family was done with me."

She raises her eyebrows. "'Done' with you?"

He nods, kicks a rock out of his way. "My dad told me to my face that there wasn't a place for me anymore. They sent papers to the school…Xavier's became my legal guardians."

Laura looks surprised. "I thought they were dead."

"I think it might have been less painful that way," Julian says stiffly. "Anyways, it's old news. I'm over it. The only thing that I regret is losing the money. They let me keep my personal account but I had a lot more coming. They're billionaires, you know."

"So I heard." She frowns, still thinking about what he's said. It's obvious—from the tense set of his shoulders, from his gritted teeth and the way he's glaring at the ground—that he is nowhere near being 'over it', and that the money is probably the least troubling part of the affair. No matter how sordid her past has been, Laura can't say that she ever doubted her mother's love for her, or Debbie's, or Megan's. Or Logan's. All the family she's ever had—however few, however tragically she lost them, whether by her hand or Kimura's—is the reason she's here, at Wolverine's school, and not still in the facility factory. Not a mindless killing machine. To live a life without that…for the first time, she feels she has insight into why Julian is often like a train wreck.

"I'm sorry," she says.

"Not your fault," he replies quickly, dismissively. Afraid of pity. "Let's talk about something else."

"I was." She glances at him. "I meant, for making it sound like I was backing Quire. I wasn't thinking, I guess…I just really want to get out of this place."

"It's fine." He forces himself to give her a small smile. "I probably overreacted."

"Not like I'm one to judge," Laura says, returning his smile and offering her hand. He takes it, and the rest of the way down the hill is silent and peaceful, both feeling a little less on edge once again.

**…**

_**6:02 pm, Bottom of the Hill  
>The Savage Lands<strong>_

"Alright everyone!" Quire shouts, as the students gather at the bottom of the lookout hill. He's still clasping his elbows, and looks really nervous. "From here, we just retrace our steps—we left the woods there." He jerks a thumb over his shoulder, at a small path leading into thick foliage. When they had come out here—with Wolverine at the front of the group—the walk had seemed like a stupid school thing. Now, though…with no teacher, no powers, and a setting sun…and potential dinosaurs…no one is able to resist thinking of Jurassic Park.

Julian looks at Laura. "Think we'll have trouble?"

She nods slightly, her expression serious. "If we encounter anything…you _all_ need to hide. I'll take care of it."

"No, not alone!" he protests.

"I have the most hand-to-hand combat experience…and I have my claws still," Laura says. "If I get hurt, I'll recover when our powers come back."

"Unless they switch," he argues.

"What else do you suggest? We run?" she counters.

"Guys…" Shark Girl says. "I don't mean to interrupt…but it's getting dark _really fast_."

"Into the woods!" Quire announces.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>8:46 pm, Somewhere in the Jungle<br>The Savage Lands**_

"Admit it, Quire," Laura says loudly. "We're one-hundred-percent hopelessly fucking lost."

"I _know_ where we're _going!_" Quire answers, sounding furious. "Quit trying to screw with my head, ok?"

Julian clears his throat. "She's right. We've passed the same tree like five times now."

"That one—" she points to a tree—"With the five-by-five spider-web, right?"

"_**AHHHHH!"**_ Kid Gladiator starts as he realizes he is almost sticking his elbow into it. He stumbles backward and begins frantically brushing himself off, while everyone watches him in astonishment. "I don't like Octasects, okay? They're a form of imperial torture in my kingdom!"

"Did he _really_ just admit to being afraid of little itty-bitty bugs?" Laura asks in delight.

Julian pauses, his eyes widening as he watches the owner of the web descend from the upper branches of the tree. "What the _fuck_," he says, taking a step back. She turns and silently observes the new threat: a spider with a body diameter of at least three feet, and huge, sharp-as-fangs pinschers clicking rapidly in front of its mouth. The multitude of eyes looks like a shiny, rainbow-colored, dome-shaped glass.

"I hate this school," she says flatly.

Kubark whimpers. Quire swallows. "Okay. Shit. Kinney, go do your thing."

"_Me?!" _Laura demands, whirling to face him. "You were all up in our faces a minute ago about how you are the obvious choice for group leader! Why the hell should I do your dirty work?!"

"You said you'd protect us!" Shark Girl snaps.

Julian hesitates. "Come on. You and me—we can do it."

She closes her eyes. "_Why _does it have to be so gross? I thought it'd be a dinosaur, not a fucking megabug."

Kubark lets out another strangled whimper.

"Oh, shut up!" Laura snaps. She looks at Julian. "Fine. Flank it. Go for the legs."

"Excuse me, Laura—what should _we_ do?" Idie asks politely. Broo is beside her. "I can help," he offers. "Whatever is happening to your powers has not affected my physiology."

Trevor hugs his elbows, his multitude of eyes held open wide. "I can…umm…keep an eye out for other stuff," he suggests.

"Of course you can," Laura says sarcastically. "In what situation would you be anything _but _a lookout?"

"Hey, I think he was just trying to be helpful," Julian says. He glances up at Glob Herman, who has so far been silent, but is still in gelatinous form. "How about you, asshole? Going to help us out here?"

The big wax boy shrugs. "I don't like bugs either."

Laura glares at him. "You don't get a _choice _about this…seeing as you might actually be _useful._"

"Oh." Glob Herman looks disappointed. "Damn. Okay."

"Now that that's settled…" Julian looks at the spider, who is clearly waiting for them. "You throw some globs at it so it can't move. Laura, Broo and I can do the rest."

"Excuse me," Broo speaks up, adjusting his glasses. Annoyed, Julian looks down at him. He's tempted to ignore him—or fling him an insult—but has that annoying _'yes, but…' _feeling again. "What?" he asks.

"I've been having a conversation with the spider," Broo says. "His name is—well, I don't have pinschers so I can't say it quite the same—but it sounds a little like _Prxcktzal._ He's offered to guide us through the jungle, if we don't destroy his web."

Julian gazes at Broo for a few moments. "You speak _spider?_" he asks finally.

"Yes, they are a descendent of the Brood," the alien replies. "A party that was sent some hundreds of millions of years ago to investigate Earth. Of course, modern spiders aren't anything like us _now._"

"Of course not," Laura says.

Kubark throws in a whimper and backs away.

"Shut up," she adds.

Quire looks at Julian. "It could be a trap."

The latter hesitates. "What makes you say that?"

Quire also hesitates. "Didn't you read Harry Potter, when they follow the spiders and find Aragog and all his human-devouring offspring?"

"Why am I not surprised that the first civilized words you've ever spoken are dripping with nerd?" Laura asks. "_No, _I did _not_ read Harry Potter. I was busy fighting for your lives with X-force."

"Shut up!" Quire snaps, obviously aggravated by this fact.

Julian wills himself not to laugh. "I saw the movie. You really think that could happen here?"

"Can you question it, Broo?" Laura asks. "And try to tell if it's lying. I really don't want to finish off today as a spider's dinner."

"Okay," Broo says. He turns back to the waiting spider and makes a series of very minute clicking noises. The spider taps its pinschers together, as if it is anticipating its meal, but apparently it is speaking. After a few moments, the alien looks back at her. "He said that the path may be dangerous. There are…he called them something else, but I think he meant _dinosaurs…_out hunting. He promised the other spiders won't touch us if we are with him. Otherwise, however…"

"'Him'?" Laura cranes her neck. "How can you tell?"

"God, Laura, _why _would you want to know that?" Julian asks, shuddering.

"Good point." She looks expectantly at Broo. "Well?"

"The females are about twice his size," he replies politely.

Silence.

"Yeah, tell him we'll gladly accept his guidance," Julian says loudly.

Kubark makes a small strangled noise.

"I think the imperial prince is wetting himself," Laura announces.

"I am not!" Kid Gladiator protests, forcing himself to stand straight and unclench his shaking fists. "I just…I really hate Octasects. Where the hell is Warbird when I need her?"

"Probably wherever the hell Logan fucked off to," Laura says, arching her eyebrows. "Why, you want to come protect you from the big scawy spider?"

"Leave him alone," Julian says.

Laura gives him an odd look. "Seriously? _You're _telling me to leave people alone?" She pauses. "Wait…since all our mutant-stuff got turned off…does this mean that being a dickis _officially_ one of your powers?"

"Oh, shut the hell up," he mumbles. "I just don't want to be here all day, like you said. Broo…can you tell Pretzel that we're ready?"

"I don't think that was his name," Idie says politely.

"It's close enough," Julian says.

Broo turns back to the spider and translates. It replies, then scampers down the web in hurried motions that makes everyone jump back a couple of feet (Kubark slams into a tree with a frightened squeaking noise). The spider doesn't attack, though; he scampers down a side trail that none of them had noticed in the darkness, or with all the banter that had been going on. Exchanging glances, Laura and Julian begin to follow, with Quire closely behind…and then the rest of them, Kubark tailing far behind.

**…**

_**11:52 pm, Somewhere in the Jungle  
>The Savage Lands<strong>_

"Oh my god," Laura says, from the ground, as she has just tripped over a log and almost bitten her tongue. Julian reaches down and offers his hand to her. After a moment she takes it and accepts his help up. Being without a healing factor is really starting to hit her now. She feels exhausted, after hours of walking, and not having eaten since seven in the morning, and not sleeping last night so she could pass her morning Mutant Literature exam. And maybe skipping lunch hadn't been such a great idea either. She looks over her shoulder and sees that some of the group seems to be stumbling along as well; Broo is actually carrying Idie, and Eye Boy is rubbing his arms, all one hundred or so of his eyes drooping sleepily. Julian and Quire are the only two who seem like they could keep going without much effort.

"Guys…I think we need to call it for the night," she says quietly. More quietly than she feels, because she herself feels close to the edge of her patience and sanity.

The two boys look back at the group. "We can't stop here," Quire says.

"Broo," Laura calls. "Can you ask Pretzel how much further it's going to be?"

The little alien carefully sets Idie down (she leans against a tree, yawning) and waddles over to the spider, in the way he does whenever he tries to move really fast on his hind legs. The Brood are quadripedal, so walking bipedally really takes it out of the mutant alien. He makes a series of clicking noises, and Pretzel rubs his pinschers together again.

"Four of our hours," he says.

Julian frowns. "That can't be right. We didn't take longer than three hours to get to the hill from the jet…and we've been walking all night now."

"Shit," Quire says. "We're going the wrong way."

"God _damn_ it! God _**DAMN **_it!" Laura kicks at the ground, frustrated. "Fuck this. _**FUCK IT ALL**__. _I need to sleep. I've been up for about forty-eight hours now, thanks to fucking Guthrie and fucking finals week. I didn't realize it would literally end with me _**DYING**__."_

"Calm down," Julian says.

"_**I AM PERFECTLY. FUCKING. CALM!" **_Laura roars at him, so loud that they hear birds leaving the tree above them. _**"FUCK YOU LOGAN! I WILL KILL YOU AND EAT YOUR HEART, DO YOU HEAR ME?! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" **_

No one speaks. The forest is filled with the dying echoes of her threats.

"Maybe we _should_ stop for the night," Julian suggests, mildly concerned. "And please…don't yell. You might bring something."

"I will eat that too!" Laura snaps. "I am so hungry I could eat a fucking Jurassic park raptor! Let the motherfucker come, I will use its hide for a fucking bedroll!"

"Your girlfriend's as psychotic as _you_ are," Quire comments.

Laura gives him a look of death. "I will use _you_ for _bait._"

The other boy wavers, suddenly-and quite vividly-remembering the things he'd seen in Logan's mind concerning his clone and her dark past.

"Okay, Laura, seriously…calm down," Julian says, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We'll rest soon. Broo, can you tell Pretzel that we need to find somewhere to rest for a bit?"

Broo nods and begins to translate.

"Do you need me to carry you?" Julian asks, as the spider scampers off again.

"Not unless you're tired of your hands!" Laura snaps. He doesn't ask again.

**…**

_**1:15 am, A Clearing Somewhere in the Jungle  
>The Savage Lands<strong>_

Laura finally sits down amidst a bed of moss, the leaves of a huge, ancient-looking, banana-like plant with leaves the size of quilts looming above her. She is so tired that her eyes feel like marbles in her head, and her stomach hurts from hunger. Everything feels so much worse because her healing factor usually makes her feel so much better than a normal human feels. She's no stranger to pain…but pain is usually fleeting and of no concern to her, just a momentary alert from her body. But without the healing, she has all these biological needs and alerts that she has to pay attention to…and secretly she's afraid of ignoring any of them, because—in this state—she's mortal.

Julian suddenly appears—and plops down beside her, like he's been invited. "This isn't so bad," he comments.

She looks up at the star-filled sky, between the leaves. Without the glare of city lights, she can see the band of the milky way, and this suddenly makes all her personal gripes seem so much smaller. "As long as nothing eats us overnight…I guess not," she admits.

He looks up. "Damn," he says. "Never seen it like that."

"Probably the only place in the world to see the stars this clearly." Laura leans her head against the massive stalk of the plant. "I'm still going to kill Logan tomorrow."

"I'll help," he says.

She smiles. He shifts—leans in closer to her—and she draws back slightly. "We're in public," she murmurs.

"Everyone's about ten feet away and asleep in the bushes," he says, studying her eyes. "You're beautiful, you know that?"

She doesn't know what to say, so she remains silent. He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and runs his fingertips over her jaw. She finds herself thinking of the mind-link again, and her fears that he will see what she's trying to leave behind. She closes her eyes and jerks away from his touch. "I'm tired," she says, her eyebrows drawn together. "And I'm hungry."

Julian looks stung. "Laura—"

"I just want to sleep," she says, her nose wrinkled.

"It's the mind-link, isn't it?" he persists.

"Just drop it," she says, lying down on her back. "I'm too tired for this shit. Need to rest up for whatever Logan's planned for us."

"Right." Julian looks down at her, simmering. "Laura, we don't even have powers right now. There _is_ no link. Come on—stop trying to push me away."

A moment passes, then she looks at him. "What if they turn back on?"

"Then you can do whatever the hell you want. I _don't_ want to get in your head, Laura…I'm more interested in getting into your pants."

She pauses, looks at him. "I think I know why you were single for so long."

Julian rolls his eyes. "You give new meaning to the term '_hopeless romantic'_…as in it will never happen unless I'm painfully blunt about my intentions."

"Shut up," she murmurs, a little embarrassed. She's not inexperienced in bed—having actually worked in the sex-trade, and having had a number of one-night stands with bar pick-ups—but all this, with Julian, makes her feel like some kind of awkward virgin. Which is doubly strange because she's never been one, never had a 'first time'…not one that counts. Hers had been sold for fifty dollars, to one of Zebra Daddy's friends who liked young girls.

He lowers himself beside her, gives her a questioning look. "You still don't trust me?"

Laura sighs. "It's not that…I just…I don't know."

"You weren't this jumpy earlier," he reminds her. "I thought you were going for it last week, before the room attacked us…and then there was that time you—"

"I know, I know," she says, closing her eyes. "It was today. You reminded me about the mind-link, and I'm just…not okay with that. I'm not…used to sharing myself with someone, you know?"

Julian thinks for a few moments. "Neither am I," he admits. "But I'm not asking you to do that."

"I know." She hesitates. "You promise you won't try to look in…in my head?"

"I'll swear it on a Bible, if you've got one," he jokes.

"They're only good for levelling tables," Laura replies solemnly.

He reaches out and lays his hand on her stomach. She doesn't draw away this time, and he takes it as an invitation to continue. A few minutes pass, and they are both entwined, Julian having one briefly clear thought of thankfulness for having the foresight to bring a rubber. Almost immediately afterward they both fall into a deep and heavy sleep.

**…**

_**5:08 am, A Clearing Somewhere in the Jungle  
>The Savage Lands<strong>_

"Wake up," Julian whispers—again—in Laura's ear. She frowns and finally opens her eyes, raises her head and gives him a questioning look. It's barely dawn, and she's still really tired. Then she follows his pointing finger and sees the men walking in the clearing. The dark-skinned people, covered in body paint and clad in fringed leather clothing. And speaking rapidly in an utterly foreign language. And carrying enormous spears and full-body shields.

"Shit," she murmurs, then reaches for the few articles of clothing that she'd removed. Wiggling back into her jeans, she buttons them hurriedly and rises into a crouching position, carefully studying the men. They have stopped to talk, pointing at various areas of the jungle.

"They know we're here," she whispers.

Julian is also sitting now. He gazes at the spears. "How do you think we're supposed to handle this one?" he asks.

"Don't know." She hesitates. "They might have food."

"Or we could hide and hope they don't try to find us," he suggests. "If we can just get to the X-wing…"

"We're pretty lost," she reminds him.

"Yeah." He rubs his face with his hand. "God damn it. I bet the other groups didn't get a final like this."

Laura pauses. "To be honest, I think something went _wrong._ Logan would never leave us alone overnight like that….not with kids like Eye Boy and Idie in the mix."

Julian glances at her. "Like, wrong how?"

"As in…I think Logan was attacked," she says. "Or abducted. Either of the two, and he's out of commission for the time being. Who knows if they got the X-wing too."

"You think it was _these_ people?" he asks, gesturing to the men in the clearing.

Laura shakes her head. "I don't think so. It was something else. I think it has something to do with the reason _we_ can't use our powers. Whoever it is needed to switch off Logan's healing factor to get him, and that means…"

"That they're still in the area because it seems proximal," Julian finishes for her. "Damn, I think you're right. Should we tell the others?"

"No sense in worrying them needlessly," she says. "Nothing they can do. Well, maybe we should tell Quire. He could help us keep the group going…and help us figure out how to save Logan's ass."

"Tell me what?" Quire asks, suddenly crouching beside them.

Julian looks annoyed. "That you're a douche-nozzle," he says.

"That we don't think this is part of the test," Laura corrects, before a fight can break out. "Logan's been captured by someone….who turned off his healing factor…and that's why no one can use their powers."

"I figured that out around seven last night," Quire replies scathingly.

Julian glares at him. "Why didn't you say something?"

"Because you were too busy being butt-hurt that your girlfriend saw how brilliant I am," the other boy answers.

"Guys, cool it!" Laura hisses. "The tribesmen are _right there. _They could literally skewer us without much effort. Just…everyone be quiet and wait."

"_**HEY! OVER HERE!"**_Glob Herman yells at the top of his lungs—from one of the bushes nearby—as he stands up and waves at the tribesmen. _**"WE'RE REALLY HUNGRY AND WE'RE LOST!"**_

Quire looks at his big pink friend with narrowed eyes. "I am going to _bleach _his brain when we get out of here," he says, his voice filled with loathing. "Something so stupid doesn't deserve to live."

"_If_ we get out of here," Julian corrects him.

**…**

_**5:22 am, Somewhere in the Jungle  
>The Savage Lands<strong>_

"_**RUN FASTER!" **_Quire yells, almost tripping on his own feet, near the back of the group. _**"THEY'RE COMING!"**_

"_**I THINK-THEY'RE-CANNIBALS!" **_ Trevor wails. _**"I SAW-ONE-OF-THEM-CHEWING-ON-AN-ARM!" **_

"_**MY FATHER WILL BE FURIOUS IF I AM EATEN BY A BUNCH OF PRIMITIVE SAVAGES!" **_Kubark roars, running ahead, much faster than all of them put together since he's in comparatively the best shape, rivaled only by Laura's healing factor-boosted physiology. He's simply had it with all the bizarre threats of this land, coupled with his loss of powers. Realizing mere branches can now inflict pain on him has driven him nearly hysterical.

"_**THEY ARE NOT SAVAGES!" **_Idie protests, from near the end of the stampede of students. _**"THE VILLAGE I CAME FROM HAD MANY TRADITIONALISTS! THEY JUST HAVE NOT REDEEMED THEIR SOULS YET!" **_

"I think some of us should stop running," Laura comments with a sneer, to no one in particular.

"You know what—" Julian comes to a halt and bends over, his hands on his knees as he pants. "I _am_ stopping. This is…this is stupid. Let them try to get me. I've still got claws, right?"

She slows, then also comes to a stop. "Okay. Wait, what if they have—"

_Fooooooooop!_

Laura looks down at the dart sticking out of her upper bicep. "—projectiles?" she finishes, then her eyes roll up in her head and she topples over.

**…**

_**10:35 am, The Village  
>The Savage Lands<strong>_

Laura very slowly comes to, blinking rapidly and shaking her head….and wondering why the world feels so strange. Then she realizes she's hanging upside down from her ankles, her hands tied behind her back. She makes a noise, looks around and sees that she is in a dark and stuffy room. "Juh…." She says sleepily, shakes her head. "Jul…Julian?"

"Fi' more…" his sleepy voice comes, from behind her. She cranes her neck and sees that he is hanging with his back turned toward her…and that Quire is hanging from the same hook, unconscious. She feels a thrill of fear. "Where're…we?"

"Hmm?" Julian makes a movement, probably shaking his head. "Oh…fuck."

"Going to…eat us," Laura says. "Need…to get out." Her mental fog is clearing quickly, and so is Julian's. From the stillness of their companion, however, it seems that he has been hit the hardest by whatever the darts had contained,

"'S Quire…dead?" Julian asks.

"Don'…think so…" she replies. "We can…prob'ly…break the hook if we…swing back and forth."

"Kay." He makes an effort and begins to rock back and forth. Laura closes her eyes, trying not to get dizzy, but it's really hard. Suddenly she's glad that she hasn't eaten anything recently. She forces herself to begin rocking too, and about two minutes later, the rope snaps and all three go tumbling to the dusty dirty floor with heavy thuds and grunts.

"Fuck, I'm still tied up," Julian says, struggling into a sitting position, his back still toward her.

"Pop a claw…I'll pop mine and we free each other, okay?" Laura pauses. "Don't let it out very far. Just the tip."

"That's what she said."

"Really not the time."

"Sorry." Julian pauses. "How do I just pop the tip?"

She thinks. "Go slow. Ease them out. Keep your wrist straight."

A moment passes. "Okay, got it."

Laura slides out the tip of one claw, gritting her teeth against the pain. "Good. Ready. Start cutting…and be careful."

They are free in seconds, and scrambling to undo the ropes binding their legs, splattering blood all over each other from the claw-wounds in their hands. Then Laura cuts Quire free. "You'll have to carry him," she says, retracting her claw and reaching down to tear a strip off her shirt to bind the gaping hole with. "Take care of your hand first."

Julian doesn't complain, just follows her orders. He gets to his feet, then reaches down and hefts the unconscious boy over his shoulder. "Damn he's light," he says. "Nothing but skin and bones. And Mohawk." This was in reference to the strip of regrown hair atop Quire's otherwise shaven head.

"Logan should feed us more," Laura agrees. She moves toward a strip of light in the darkness, and discovers that the entrance to the hut is being covered by a curtain. "Be careful. We need to sneak out of here."

"Think they got the others?" Julian asks.

"Why even _ask_ such a stupid question?" Laura counters. "If they got us, of _course_ they got the others. We're, like, the cream of the crop of Logan's freak-show group, remember?"

"Yeah, sorry…that dart must've really fucked me up." He frowns. "How the hell are we going to get to them?"

She pushes the curtain aside slightly—and stares. There is a dusty courtyard in front of the hut. On this courtyard, about forty or fifty people are kneeling at the foot of a throne-type-structure, made of what looks like bent tree limbs. And sitting on it is none other but Idie.

"What in the actual fuck?" Laura asks.

**…**

_**10:42 am, The Village  
>The Savage Lands<strong>_

"So, umm…Idie…" Laura looks up at the incredibly religious girl that she tutors once a week. It's kind of a hard jump to make, seeing her dressed in the tribe's garb, her face painted with bright paints and strange symbols. There is a sun on each of her cheeks.

Idie looks down at her approaching friends...and smiles widely. Everyone relaxes; Laura and Julian—who are propping the still-unconscious Quire between them—because Idie's acknowledged them, and the people surrounding them because—whatever Idie is to them—she's just demonstrated that these prisoners aren't a threat.

"What the hell is going on here?" Julian can't help asking.

"They think I am their goddess," Idie says calmly. "Because of my eyes." One of them is orange and the other is blue, her only physically expressed mutant trait.

"Oh, well," Laura says, a little overwhelmed. "Yay?"

Idie leans forward. "What's wrong with Quentin Quire?"

"They shot us with tranquilizer darts," Julian says. He pauses, smirks. "Stupid shit is such a lightweight."

"Do you know where the others are?" Laura asks her seriously.

The other girl frowns. "I haven't been able to leave my throne. The two guards at the perimeter stop me if I do." She pauses. "I am terrified. This is an unforgivable sin. The Bible says we are not to worship false gods…I can only imagine how severe the punishment will be for _being _a false god."

"It's frowned upon," Julian says. Laura kicks him in the shin and gives him a warning look. He's never taken Idie's religious views seriously, and that bothers her. Even if she doesn't believe what the other girl does so fervently, she still has respect for her concerns and refuses to make fun of them.

He rolls his eyes. "Okay. So…how the hell are we going to save the others?"

"I vote….what'ver we do…we leave Glob…Herman," Quire moans, apparently having regained consciousness. He pushes away from Julian first, then Laura; staggers, almost falls—his glasses do—and then rubs his head. "What the _hell_ was in that dart? It feels like horse tranquilizer."

"You've taken horse tranquilizer?" Laura asks.

"He's taken everything, remember?" Julian says, his voice full of sarcasm. She kicks him in the shin again.

"Oh, haha." Quire stoops and picks up his glasses, wipes them on his shirt, then looks around and starts when he notices Idie sitting on a throne above him.

"Hello," she says pleasantly.

"…." Quire gives the other two a questioning look.

"She's their goddess, apparently," Laura says.

"I don't want to know." Quire closes his eyes. "I hate this school."

Julian and Laura exchange glances. "Okay, well, obviously we need to use this to our advantage," the former says. "I guess we could try just leaving first, right?"

"Only one way to find out," Laura says, heading toward the pathway leading away from the dusty courtyard—only to have her way blocked by crossed spears. She visibly deflates, her shoulders sagging. "Of course it's not that easy."

"Any ideas?" Julian asks Quire. The other boy thinks for a moment. "Make them think Idie needs us for something."

"Idie?" Laura asks. "Can you do that? Pretend you _are_ a goddess and you need us to gather your followers. Tell them that."

For a few moments it's clear that Idie is hesitating. Then she stands up and begins to make gestures with her hands. She points to each of her three classmates in turn, then begins to point to empty spaces. She finishes with a large 'come-here' motion, claps her hands together, then reaches to the staff by her side—which none of them have noticed before—and pounds it on the platform of her throne three times.

The guards step aside. "Whoa," Julian says, giving Idie a look of awe. "How'd you do that?"

"As a girl—before I learned of the path to righteousness—I used to witness tribal ceremonies with my family," Idie says, with a small hint of pride in her voice. Her eyes flit downward though, and it's clear that she is struggling with what she has done.

"Thanks, Idie," Laura says. She and the two boys run down the dusty path and begin to spread out, searching for their friends. It isn't long before she finds Trevor and Kubark hanging upside down, and Glob Herman in his own strange containment basket. He lets out a victory whoop when he sees her entering the hut. Laura rolls her eyes. "Really? You expect me to _save _your ass after that?"

"You can't jus' leave me here!" Glob Herman protests.

"After that stunt you pulled, why should I?" she asks, her nose wrinkled. "We could have been killed."

"Hey—I had no idea they were cannibals!" Glob Herman struggles in his basket, and it grows tighter. Laura realizes it's similar to a Chinese finger trap.

"What, the _spears and shields _didn't tip you off to the idea that they were probably _hostile?_"

"I don't go around thinkin' everyone's out to get me!" Glob Herman snaps. "Now cut me out, cunt. I'm sick of being in this thing."

Laura pops her claws—_Snikt!_—and hold them under the big wax boy's nose, ignoring the throbbing from the refreshed wound. "See these? I could cut through that basket like _butter." _

Glob Herman focuses on the tips.

"But you know something?" She pulls her fist away. "The school doesn't need a half-wit like you around. You've nearly gotten us all killed _more _than once. You live to bully…it doesn't matter what the cause is, if you get to punch someone who can't punch you back, you'll back it. _Plus _I'm sick of hearing about you getting Santo into trouble with your stupid contests. He's a decent guy, and he actually _cares_ about people…unlike you." She turns and heads to where the unconscious Trevor and Kubark are waiting…and begins to cut them free.

"_Hey!_ Don't turn your back on me!" Glob Herman shouts. "Quire'll kick your ass!"

"Actually…" she catches the pair as they fall down, bracing herself so she won't get knocked over too. "It was his idea."

The wax boy freezes. "_What? _But I joined his stupid gang and everything! I got the tattoo!"

"Spare me the melodrama," Laura replies. "We both know a tattoo sticks around on you about as long as a paper cut on Wolverine."

She ignores the rest of his protests and drags Kubark out of the hut, the more delicate Eye Boy hefted onto her shoulder. While not at her fullest strength potential because of the constant power switching, she's still a bit stronger than the average girl. And more determined. Besides, Trevor isn't what she would call heavy. Most of his weight seems to come from his multitude of eyeballs.

Outside, she finds Julian waiting. He's holding Broo upside down by a leg, and Iara's thrown over his should in a similar manner to Trevor. It's completely illogical—seeing as he's never even said two words to the other girl—but Laura feels a surge of jealousy at the sight. She tosses Trevor down on the ground and gives Kubark a shake. "Hey, Captain Douchebag," she calls. "Want to wake up and help with the heavy lifting?"

"….wha?" Kubark opens one eye slightly, visible because his shades have been removed. It is almost solid white, except for a tiny pupil. He starts suddenly and leaps to his feet. _**"THE SAVAGES HAVE CAPTURED US!" **_he roars, making everyone twitch.

"That's old news," Julian says, setting down Broo. "Here, you take this guy. I don't want to catch the alien."

Laura shoots him a look of disapproval—both because he's picking on Broo again, and because he's chosen to keep the shapelier of the two figures. He gives her a weird look; she shrugs dismissively and turns away, trying to explain the reasons to herself and failing. It's irrational and she knows it.

Kubark doesn't respond.

"Everyone's here, I guess," Quire says. "Except for Herman. Anyone seen him?"

"No," Laura says.

"Nope," Julian answers. He glances at Laura again, suspecting she's lying. He's had enough experience with her now to kind of gauge if she's hiding something, even without having the super-senses. He can also tell that he's done something recently to piss her off, but he's not sure what. He hadn't gotten that vibe off her a few minutes ago...although it's possible it happened earlier, considering she'd been a bit too busy escaping to have time to be mad at him.

"Fine," Quire says. "He can take care of himself, I guess. Let's figure out our way out of here."

"Any ideas on that front?" Julian asks. He feels Iara slipping so he reaches up and shoves her up his shoulder again.

"None whatsoever," Laura says. She sees the motion, grits her teeth and looks toward the throne. "There's Idie, too. We can't leave without her."

"We can't fight off all these people without our powers, either," Quire says. "I think we're going to have to move on without her…at least for now, while we find whatever's doing this. They won't hurt Idie in the meantime."

Laura hesitates. "Fine…but we _have _to come back for her. No two ways about it."

"No two ways," Julian agrees. He glances at Kubark. "Hey, man, since you're not going to take Broo…you up to carrying this one yet? She's kind of heavy."

"I am an imperial prince!" Kubark replies in his usual indignant manner. "Not a _pack mule!_"

"Not here you aren't," Laura says. "Help out or we'll leave you for the 'savages'."

He seems to consider this, then reaches out and allows Julian to transfer the unconscious Iara into his arms, still looking sulky. Julian picks Broo up by his leg again and gives him a little shake. "If I catch broodlings from him, I'll blame _you,_" he says to Laura. She smiles tightly and picks up Trevor again.

"Idie…we're going to go and fix this power-thing," she says to the girl on the throne. "We'll be back for you. But for now…please, make them let us leave. Tell them we're going hunting for you or something."

Idie sighs, then nods. "Please, don't forget me."

"We won't," Quire promises, surprising all of them. "Come on. Let's go while we still can."


End file.
